So Here I am, On Here.

Coming from a small town in southern Connecticut, I would have never imagined moving to a ‘‘big city’’ like Orange, California, let alone create a blog on the internet! The idea of living at a University after living in the woods of Connecticut for most of my life seemed unappealing or almost impossible to me. A few months later I made the decision to pull into Chapman University, and since then I have come face to face with opportunities the backwoods of Connecticut would have never offered.

Arriving at Chapman, I knew that I was fortunate enough to have the chance to learn new things that I would have never been exposed to without going to college. I have never been a fan of writing essays or reading long and boring books but when I saw “Writing About Food” in the course list during registration, I knew it was a perfect way to explore writing in a more appealing way.

I have always had a hard time with writing, and I am hoping by the end of this journey I will be a more fluent writer. Writing about a topic that I find interesting, like food, will definitely help me reach my goal and make it a much more painless process. From observing food eaters, to family recipes, to group workshops, I think it is inevitable that with the hard work I plan on putting into this class will not only improve my writing skills, but broaden my horizons to the new environment I am living in.

By the end of the 15 weeks in my ‘big city school’, I see myself as a writer with the ability to write more creatively in a more clear and concise fashion. I plan on taking full advantage of the opportunity to take a course like “Writing about Food” by using it as a way to explore my new southern California surroundings.

A Million Miles Away

I have always been a fan of Rory Gallagher. His music is simple, rustic, and bare bones- but memorable. When I came all the way out here to southern from California, it really felt like I was a million miles away. Not because of the actual distance, but because of the lifestyle being so vastly different from small town Ridgefield. Listen to the song as you browse the blog.

Real, Live Interactions with Real, Live People.

GROCERY STORE WORKER:

I walked up to aisle seven at Albertson’s to a skinny old man at the check out counter with my bag of original flavored Jack Link’s beef jerky in my hand and nothing else. I asked him how is day was going and he replied with just a nod and half of a smile. $4.97 was the total he asked for. I gave him a twenty-dollar bill and as he counted the change, I asked him if he liked beef jerky. He told me that he absolutely loved it, and said “I grab a bag of that Jack Links every once and a while to eat in my pickup truck on my way out of here and back home. Surprised by his love for jerky similar to my own, I asked him more. He told me he had never really had a smaller brand or anything independently made, but he said he has been eating the Jack Link’s jerky off of the shelf for years. I asked him what his favorite flavor was. He told me “I don’t mess with the teriyaki or smoked this and that, I just love original plain old beef jerky.” I am the same way too, I don’t like to get fancy with flavors, I like my original jerky, just plain. After talking to the friendly old man I will be sure to stop by his aisle next time I am in Albertsons.

SHELL STATION ON CHAPMAN:

Walking away from the pump filling my gas tank at Shell, I headed for the doors of the gas station interior for a nice bag of jerky. I walked in, grabbed a small bag of Jack Link’s and walked up to the counter. The shady man behind the yellow countertop mumbled a number I couldn’t understand. Luckily there was a computer display that said $4.29. I handed him a five-dollar bill and as he gave me my change asked him the same thing I asked my new buddy at Albertsons. I asked if he liked beef jerky. Unfortunately I got a blank stare from the shady character at Shell, and after a very weird five seconds of staring at each other and myself awkwardly waiting for a response, I left. Hopefully next time the Shell worker gives me a little more response than a blank stare.

FLEA MARKET.

Strolling around the flea market in Santa Ana, you will see a lot of fascinating sights. From war veterans selling American bumper stickers and coat patches to people selling homemade clothes, to people selling furniture, you will see it all at the flea market.  The man behind “Now That’s Killer Jerky” was surely no exception to one of the characters at the flea market.  Right away I noticed how packed his booth was at the flea market compared to the surrounding booths. He had dozens of people lined up and sampling his jerky, and everyone seemed to have left with at least one bag. I finally made my way up to the front of the line, and proceeded to waste no time, as I wanted to get good information from the guy before I was pushed out of the way by other jerky eaters. Still to this day after being to the booth two or three times, I don’t even have the guys name, but I do have a good glimpse into his story of his family business and his love for the jerky he makes. Mr. Killer Jerky was open to my questions even though it was busy, and although I’ve never even seen the guy without sunglasses and a hat worn low on his face, I know that “(he) is confident in the product he is putting out at the flea market, and he only gets the cleanest safest beef, while keeping safety as a top priority when treating and seasoning the dried meat.” He definitely was confident and clear about his product, and you could tell he really cared about what his family was making and selling to his community. Out of curiosity, I asked him what his favorite flavor was, and he too said “nothin beats a good bag of original.” I have to agree, and I have to say his original jerky is some of the best I have had to this day.

Food Research Project: Deadly Jerky?

Native Americans were here on the earth long before you and I. In the 1500’s they didn’t have restaurants and take out dinners to eat in their villages. They hunted, and they ate meat. Meat doesn’t last forever though- it spoils. The Native Americans had to come up with some sort of solution to preserve the meat, and that solution was beef jerky. Salted and dried out, the meat was good to eat days after it was hunted.

Looking at this twenty first century, beef jerky is still an item we see on the shelves of our 7-11 stores, our CVS pharmacies, and our gas stations across America. Big brands like “Oh boy! Oberto” and “Jack Link’s” have dominated the jerky market in the stores we shop at today, but there is still a whole world of beef jerky that lies beneath the surface of our big brands and big convenience store shelves.

In America, hunting is not uncommon, and there is no question that Americans love meat. In New Hampshire especially, people love to make their own beef jerky. Whether you go into a ‘Mom n Pop’ country store or into the basement of your uncle’s house, it isn’t unusual to see beef jerky being made independently by Americans across the country.

Ever since I was a young I would go up to Moultonborough, New Hampshire in the summer with my best friend Alex. Days spent on Lake Winnipesauke are ones I won’t forget, and I also won’t forget the trip back down to Connecticut after a fun weekend on the lake. The old country store was always a stop on the way out of town as we headed back to CT. Rolling up to the Old Country Store’s dusty parking lot, you will immediately recognize how old and rickety the building is- the way an Old Country Store should be. When you walk into the store, you’re greeted with smiles from the elderly couple that own it. The engulfing smell of fresh meat and fresh pickles, two staples of the Old Country Store, also greet you as you walk through the door. Ever since I was a little kid walking into the store, I remember the old lady behind the counter giving us a strip of her husband’s homemade deer jerky. Salted and dried in their store, it was always guaranteed to taste authentic and delicious.

Today, I know if I pick up a bag of jerky at a gas station in the middle of a road trip, I don’t worry about salmonella and other diseases that hide in spoiled meat. I have confidence in big brands that their product is safe to eat, even if it is meat, which is notorious for getting humans sick if not cured or prepared safely and correctly. There is without a doubt a science behind properly drying the meat, and with popular brands of beef jerky, I know I never second-guess the safety of their food.

You have to wonder though, how are small country stores and independent people at the Santa Ana flea market, like the family selling “Now That’s Killer Jerky”, safely producing such a delicate food product to the public without potentially getting them sick? Beef is definitely unsafe if it is consumed raw, or if it is consumed even days after it is cooked correctly. As a matter of a fact, Jack Links recommends that you refrigerate the jerky package once you open the seal. This makes me think, is the beef jerky I am picking up at the Santa Ana flea market on Saturday really safe to eat since it isn’t a big brand that I feel like I can trust? I talked to the man behind “Now That’s Killer Jerky” at the local flea market, and he certainly had a lot to say about the safety of his meats that he was selling.

Saturday morning at the flea market is full of characters selling really anything you could imagine. From clothing to furniture, to beef jerky, you will see it all at the flea market. The man behind “Now That’s Killer Jerky” was certainly a character himself. His booth was packed with dozens of people flocking for his jerky, and he stood calm behind the counter with a hat worn low over his eyes and sunglasses hiding his face. I asked him about his jerky, and if it was as safe as a big brand.

“We know our Jerky… we’ve been doing this for 30 years, and I have confidence in the safety of my food,” were the first words Mr. Killer Jerky said to me. He explained that his family’s business of selling jerky starts in his own butcher shop and is seasoned and bagged in his own shop. “We only use ingredients from companies that I trust and are well known for safety and quality.” Clearly Mr. Killer Jerky is confident in his product’s safety that he sells at the flea market, ranging from smoke, teriyaki, pineapple and even turkey jerky.

Big brands such as Jack Link’s are a little different than Killer Jerky. While I am now confident in Killer Jerky’s product after talking to the people behind the brand, other people are only confident in big brands. Jack Link’s makes millions of dollars in beef jerky, and have developed to the point where they are a household name that buyers don’t feel the need to second guess the safety in the product. The man behind the counter at aisle seven at Albertsons is the perfect example of your everyday American eating a big brand of jerky. The skinny old man who rang me up for my own bag of Jack Link’s jerky was definitely a regular consumer. I asked him out of curiosity if he liked jerky. To my surprise, he was a fanatic. He told me he loved to eat it and he said, “every once and a while I grab myself a bag of that Jack Link’s right over there to eat in my truck on my way out of here and back home to my wife.” I asked him what his favorite flavor was and if he ever questioned the safety of the Jack Link’s. “Original jerky is the one to have, I don’t like to mess with the teriyaki or smoked this and that.” He also was confident in what he was eating, he told me he never worried about getting food poisoning from big brand jerky. At this point, I was definitely intrigued, and curious if he ever had a small brand, or homemade jerky. Interestingly enough, the old man claims he has never tried the “small brand stuff, and probably never would because I don’t know if I trust them to make it safely.” Clearly the old man behind Albertsons check out counter seven had enough to say about the jerky.

I think the interaction I had with the man at Albertsons represents the opinion of many Americans. Many Americans in this day and age especially are sheltered and afraid of anything that is foreign to them, especially with food. I think that makes for unadventurous eating too. Many people today in the year 2013 eat what they know, and that is generally about it. While beef jerky is definitely potentially dangerous meat to eat because of the high risk of getting food poisoning, it is safe if prepared correctly. Beef jerky preparation isn’t rocket science, but it shouldn’t be taken lightly either.

Salmonella has been reported and linked to outbreaks from bad jerky in the past. When people make jerky on their own in their basement, they need to be sure that they cook the meat to 71.1 degrees Celsius before it dries to eliminate the risk for little beasties to form on the meat, which are small microorganisms that can cause disease such as salmonella to grow on meat. Pre-drying and then cooking to proper temperature are sure methods to preparing safe jerky. While it sounds simple, it is important that it is done properly. As with any kind of cooking, there is always room for error, and yes you can get sick from jerky it isn’t cooked at that high enough temperature before it is salted and dried.

The biggest difference between a big brand and homemade jerky is the actual drying of the jerky. Big brands like Jack Links have food dehydrators, which are massive cylinders that food can be placed in, heated, and dehydrated in a precise fashion. In the basements of New Hampshire, I guarantee you will not see a full scale, cylindrical, food dehydrator. Dehydrators for jerky are typically heated for 20 minutes at 60 degrees Celsius, and the meat strips go into the trays of the dehydrator and are carefully monitored by thermometers and computers. Americans trust this sort of technology, while they may not trust basement made jerky, where it is typically hung and dried.

While it may be a risk to eat homemade jerky compared to big brand, it is without a doubt worth the flavor. Just taking a look at the ingredients on a Jack Links package:

Beef, Water, Corn Syrup Solids, Contains less than 22% of Salt, Sugar, Soy Sauce Dried(Soybean(s), Salt, Wheat) , Maltodextrin, Monosodium Glutamate, Sodium Erythorbate,Sodium Nitrate (Nitrite), Soy Protein, Corn Hydrolyzed and, Flavoring

compared to Killer Jerky’s label: you can tell Killer Jerky is clearly a less processed food, and as a result is healthier, safer to eat, and most importantly, tastes better. Killer Jerky has very simple, basic ingredients, which is why the smaller, homestyle brands are in my opinion, better than the big brand, off the supermarket shelf style beef jerky.

All things considered, any product sold to the general public is more than likely going to be safe. From Killer Jerky to Jack Link’s, you can be confident that your meat is safe and sanitary. It will always be up to the buyer as to what they deem healthy and safe to eat, but after talking to a small brand like Killer Jerky, I know that their product is as safe as anyone else’s, and is most definitely not going to kill you. If Americans are adventurous and talk to the people behind the smaller-company’s product that they are eating, consumers can be assured that what they are eating is safe, and probably going to taste a lot better than anything off of your convenience store shelf.

Fast Food in the News

According to CNN, researchers at the Texas Christian University conducted a study where fast food restaurants had three menus, all with identical items. One menu just listed the foods, the second menu listed the calories of each item, and the third menu listed the number of minutes of brisk walking it would take to burn off that food item.

The study ended up concluding that people who order off the menu with the amount of time it would take to burn off the food item would consume 139 less calories than the people who ordered off the menu without the labels.

This simple study says a lot about Americans in my opinion. It is safe to say Americans generally want to live long healthy lives. The hang up is that ordering something quick at McDonald’s is just too easy for most to pass up, and they do not think of the consequences of eating such a processed “food” item.

We live in a time where it is impossible to stop people from eating in drive thrus and fast food restaurants. But, having the amount of time it would take to burn off the food on the menu at McDonalds would without a doubt be a step in the right direction for people in this country. While I still think it isn’t the solution, it is progress in the right direction.

In my opinion, there shouldn’t be a need for these menus, because people shouldn’t be so drawn to eating fast foods, especially at a drive thru. In the summers, you will find me camping in the woods, riding mountain bikes, or splitting wood for the cold winter ahead in Connecticut at home. There is always work to do, but at home, we always find the time to sit down and eat a proper meal, which is inevitably, healthier than fast food as well. My town doesn’t have a single fast food place, yet we are just as busy with work as people on the west coast eating at McDonalds. When it comes down to it, it is too easy to just go to the drive thru, but you owe it to yourself to sit down and eat a real meal. Not only is it going to be physically healthier than your McChicken, but it’s also much better for your mental health. Sitting down and eating your food, especially healthy food, is something vital to humans, and is something people need to step back in this day and age and appreciate.

Read the article here!

Food, Defined.

LOCAVORE: A person who only eats locally grown or produced food. Someone who makes an effort to shop at farmers markets, where the food is locally brought in from nearby farms would be considered a locavore. Being a locavore would mean that you are supporting the local, smaller farmers rather than big corporations that sell food products in huge bulk. Locavores also think that the locally grown food is fresher, tastes better and is healthier than eating foods that have been covered in pesticides. If you want to become a locavore, there is an iphone App that finds you local in season food. More info. on Locavores here

 SLOW FOOD: Slow food is the movement away from fast food and towards enjoying what you eat at a slower pace than the hectic every day lives that many people have. People today are obsessed with speed and efficiency, and slow food is the opposite. It’s about taking in a whole meal at your own pace, savoring every bite. Slow Food Movement is growing all over the world, and it is trying to educate people about how fast food is bad for you, and it encourages shopping locally.

POLEMIC: As defined, polemic is an argument or an opposition to an opinion. Polemic food would be an argument against what you are eating. Food is mis-labeled all the time. Seeing food advertised as natural or organic is usually not fully true. For example you might read that a certain food will lower your cholesterol but in fact you would need to eat an obscene amount for that claim to be true. Polemic defined here

ORGANIC FOOD: Organic food limits the use of artificial materials during the production of it. Organic food uses natural fertilizers such as manure, as opposed to chemical fertilizers that conventional foods use. Animals are also fed organic feed and are able to graze, instead of conventional livestock that gets antibiotics of growth hormones. Many people prefer organic food, especially today because they think it is healthier, and in many cases this is true. Cattle raised on an organic farm are typically leaner, better cuts of meat for eating than conventional growth hormone infested animals. More info on what organic really is here

NATURAL FOODS: Food labeled as natural does not contain any artificial ingredients, coloring, or chemical preservatives. With meat, it is minimally processed. Labels can claim a food is natural, when in fact it may not be what the consumer thinks is natural. For example, a label can claim that a food is “natural” even though animals can technically be treated with artificial hormones and still have the “natural” label. It can certainly be deceiving, and people looking for the cleanest food would probably look to Organic over natural, since the guidelines are more precise with organic food, since it really doesn’t use artificial material in the food. Extra Information on “natural food”

So What Makes A Good Food Writer?

As a food writing apprentice, there are a lot of techniques used in food writing that make food essays enticing to read. I like to see a good story in a food essay that brings a personal element into the essay. The most important thing for me in these food essays have their personal, unique, story connect to the food they cook and write about.

I was really pulled into Ernest Hemingway’s Bacon Wrapped Trout with Corn Cakes. When he said at the beginning of the essay, “It is all right to talk about roughing it in the woods. But the real woodsman is the man who can be really comfortable in the bush.” When I read this, I was immediately intrigued to see how that statement could possibly connect to the topic of food. I think it is interesting how Hemingway is so resourceful with how he cooked his trout successfully over hot coals. Many people in this 21^st century would be incapable with cooking this meal in their kitchens. Hemingway’s essay is proof that people today don’t need fancy kitchens and big spaces to cook in; it can all be done in the woods over a campfire. I also thought it was interesting how Hemingway said at the end of the essay, “But for those of us in the comfort of our own kitchens, there’s a better way: Look to the broiler.” I think this technique of adding and alternative for the not so resourceful cooks in this day and age was a good way for Hemingway to show that this fresh food is so easily obtainable by picking up a pan and cooking it yourself.

On the other hand, the Vanilla Ice Cream with Brandied Peaches essay had great descriptions that brought the reader into the setting the author was writing about.In the first paragraph, you can almost feel how the author does when he writes, “Around the middle of August, when vacations are past and sunset creeps up noticeably earlier every evening, end-of-summer anxiety sets in. How could I have let this happen?” and he goes on to say every weekend needs one or two stone fruit deserts. Descriptions like that passage, and phrases like “sunset creeps up noticeably earlier” all draw you into the essay with such vivid description. I think if it didn’t have the end of summer description early in the essay, the dish would have no grounded connection since it is such a “summery” type dish with the fresh peaches from the farmers market and homemade ice cream described in the recipe.

Finally, the article “How to Fix Everything” had a great voice, told from Heather McDonald who cared for John once he had his tumor. Throughout the essay you get the feeling of how the food brought her and John together from when they met, “He always saw it as a challenge: What can I do with half a chicken, mustard, spinach, and Rice-A-Roni,” (27).  This thought of making cooking into a challenge makes the reader think about family or friends and how cooking brings them all together. By the end after Heather had gone through the struggle with John and the tumor, she says, “Sometimes, I still like to believe the lasagna saved John.” (33). This statement brings the reader into her thoughts of how the food brought her and John so close and in her mind, even ‘saved’ him from his tumor.

In my Family Story and Recipe Project, I want to write about my great grand pa. He started a restaurant from nothing except a shed and some boiling hot dogs. Today, the restaurant has passed through generations in the family, and the food and recipes behind the restaurant are still alive. I want to use the strong voice that Heather McDonald used in her article, and the description in the Vanilla Ice Cream with Peaches, and Trout by Hemingway to bring the reader into the writing.

Aged Old Family Steak

“The steak in it’s first form.”                                                                      photo: Ben Stanziale.

A brisk morning in West Orange, New Jersey left my great grandfather Marty Horn walking away from the bank where he worked for many years.  Little did he know, he was about to walk towards a family legacy that is still going strong today.

Fired from his first job, at the bank,  he was left with nothing in 1932, the heart of the Great Depression in America.  After thinking about how he could continue to make a living and put food on the table, Marty Horn and his friend, Roy, borrowed Roy’s mother’s ten foot by twelve foot rough wooded shed and set up shop on the corner of two of the busiest roads in West Orange.

It was official; “Pals Cabin” was open for business selling hot dogs.  Marty figured, “It was better than selling apples on the street corner.” The two pals, Marty and Roy, grilled foot long hot dogs over warm, glowing coals and included a cold Coca-Cola that brought motorists off the road and up to the shed by the dozens.  With great success, the rickety shed became one of the most popular establishments in the region.

By the time 1934 rolled around, Marty was acclaimed as “The Grill Master of New Jersey”.  In ’34,  the two friends decided it was time to add charcoal broiled steaks to the menu. Sold for 50 cents a piece, these mouthwatering steaks were served with buttered toast to patrons who flocked to the front of their shed in New Jersey.  Marty’s flavorful steaks were so well loved by the public, that even baseball legend Babe Ruth found time to stop by the shed and devour those hot juicy steaks.

In 1939 Marty and Roy decided to build a restaurant, a cabin which would include the longest bar in New Jersey. After a while they realized people weren’t coming to drink, but to eat the juicy steaks.  Several expansions later,  Pals Cabin remains in  the same spot,  serving American food like the foot long hot dogs and their famous steaks that have been a menu item since the early days of the roadside shed.  Marty never knew that his steaks would have such a lasting impact, but they are certainly a staple item that my family continues to enjoy to this day.

There are many secret techniques behind cooking Marty and Roy’s charcoal broiled steaks that made them such a successful item.  What really set their steaks apart from the rest was the fact that their beef was aged.  In fact, Marty would buy a whole side of beef and butcher it himself in the restaurant.

While today my dad isn’t buying half a cow and chopping it up in the backyard, we still get the beautiful aged cuts from the restaurant and grill the tender steaks at our own house, over scorching, glowing charcoal and aromatic woodchips.  The smell of the steak and crunch of the toast points are all familiar senses in my house today.

Since dry aging was the method that Marty used to get the steak so tender, the two pals would take their cuts of meat and have them hang like pants on a cloths line, in a controlled refrigerated meat locker.  The amount of attention needed to treat the beef not only reflected on Marty’s dedication to food, but his hard work.  Steaks of the finest grade were kept between 32-36 degrees Fahrenheit or else it would spoil, and the humidity around 85 percent to avoid the cut from drying out.  The cuts of sirloin were hung in a special meat locker allowing complete airflow around the beef to prevent bacteria.  Most importantly this all happens for some 15 to 20 days under the watchful eye of Marty and his experienced butcher.  Topped off with a piece of crispy, golden toast points, the meal was hard to beat.  Marty’s steaks are still cut, aged, and served the same way at Pals Cabin today.

Ever since I was little, I remember having nights where I would be surprised with steak and toast. As a kid I loved eating it, and I still do now.  Whether we enjoy steak at Pals, or on the deck at home; for a special occasion, or just Sunday night’s dinner- the steaks never get old and are a lasting tradition in my family.  This special meal that has been a tradition for so many generations is even more enjoyed when my relatives come over to the house and we share each other’s company and family stories  (plus the steak of course). The smell and splatter of the steak on the grill is something the Stanziale family can instantly identify with.

INGREDIENTS:

12oz sirloin steak (dry aged) per person

A dry rub consisting of:

1. ¼ cup salt
2. 1 tablespoon black pepper
3. 1 tablespoon of paprika
4. 1 tablespoon of chili powder
5. 1 tablespoon onion powder
6. 1 tablespoon garlic powder or my Dad’s favorite, he says it reminds him of Pals’ rub, Stubb’s Bar.B.Q spice rub.
7.  two slices of you favorite bread cut in quarters or points

MAKE THE STEAK:

1. Obtain dry aged steak (several mail order steak company sell them).  More info. on aging steak here
2. Rub spices into beef.
3. Get grill very hot (500 F).
4. Lay steaks over charcoal with mesquite chips scattered throughout
5. Rotate steak after a few minutes a ¼ turn to produce nice grill marks.
6. When juices rise flip steak and repeat step 5.
7. Cook to medium or rare. Recommend rare.
8. Let steak rest 5 min before serving to distribute juices.
9. Before serving, brush steak with clarified butter (only the golden yellow part of melted butter skim off white milk portion).
10.  Serve with 2 golden pieces of toast.

WARNING

*It is not recommended for amateur food enthusiasts to age their own steak*

Dear _____,

Writing an effective manifesto isn’t easy, but it is do-able with some tips and a little bit of hard work. You need to remember to write about something you are actually interested in, write descriptively, and add factual information that doesn’t take away from the personal tone of the manifesto. Be sure to have some kind of unique story or interaction in your writing. You want the audience to remember what you wrote.

The most important part of the manifesto is to write about a topic you are interested in, it will make the writing a lot easier and as a result, stronger. The topic has to be something you can write about in a way that can convince your reader to want to take an action, or try something new because they read your manifesto. If you write about something that your passionate about or have experience with, your readers will be more likely to want to take some sort of action by the end of the manifesto.

A good manifesto doesn’t just stop at writing about something you are passionate about, you need to remember to write in scene and not summary. Summary’s are boring, and don’t provide any incite about the topic the reader is learning about. Scene is what you are after. Scene is more descriptive, and the reader can picture what you are writing about, or even picture themselves in the situation they are reading if you write with scene in mind instead of summary.

Perhaps the hardest part of this Food Manifesto is supplementing your information with cold hard facts from the World Wide Web. You need to remember that the sources you use need to be primary sources. Legal documents, statistics or any original writing are all examples of the primary sources that you need to work on adding to the manifesto.

Not only do you need to find the primary sources, but you also need to weave them into the manifesto in a buttery smooth manner. Don’t just throw in the primary source facts anywhere you please into the manifesto. You want to maintain the personal feel of the manifesto as you tell your own real life examples in addition to adding these primary source facts. Finding the perfect balance of the primary sources and the personal examples is tough, but the right balance will make a good manifesto great, especially when it is backed up with solid factual information. The movie, King Corn, did an awesome job of this by telling the personal side of story of two buddies who decided to grow corn for a year, while still containing tons of factual information about corn and the food that we are buying in the stores that are almost all made from corn. That film did an excellent example of bringing the two elements of the personal stories and the factual evidence together in one medium.

Finally, the end of your manifesto has a lot of room for creativity. You want to leave the reader with a question, an idea, something to do after they read the manifesto, anything that leaves the reader with something to do or think about once they are done actually reading. For example, you are talking about taking time to slow down and enjoy your three meals of the day. Leave the reader with a challenge to take 15-20 extra minutes with each meal that they have. Challenge them to sit down and enjoy. Good Luck young grasshopper.

Fast Food Facts, While Your Eating…

We all know that fast food is unhealthy, that is no secret. Watch this video as it quickly and creatively explains 20 facts about fast food’s detrimental health effects on us humans in a informative and funny way. Fast food in moderation, or better yet elimination, is the key.