Thoughts About Class

Through this course I have learned to better incorporate sources. This will greatly help me with my future writing endeavors. However I must say I learned a lot more about food and the way it is produced. Prior to this class I had some idea about the way it was produced. I never before had the desire to find out how the food I was eating made or produced. After watching Food Inc. in this class I learned about the not so glamorous side of meat production. I thought it was disgusting how the animals and workers are treated. I also learned a great deal about how food is marketed to us. The chip article that we read really resonated with me. I had never thought about how chips could relate to socio-economic class. This to me is still quite strange. However it does make sense. There are significant cost differences amongst different chip brands. The higher priced chips aren't always accessible to lower class people. However when I am eating chips I rarely notice the difference between the cheap chips and the expensive chips. To me a chip is a chip. Although I have learned a lot about food and food production I don't think that my eating habits will change that much. I will still continue to eat meat because that was how I was raised. However I might start thinking about where my food comes from when I am eating. While grocery shopping I might try to do more research and buy foods where I am able to identify where they came from. All in all I thought that this was a very interesting writing course, and one that i'm glad I took.

A Local Eaters Manifesto

Growing up in Oregon I was fortunate to be surrounded with fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables. I never realized just how fortunate I was until I left Oregon for the great state of Colorado. However shortly after moving to Colorado I realized just how lucky I was growing up in Oregon. Some of my fondest memories growing up come from going to the farms. The closest farm to my house is just a short ten-minute drive. I remember summer mornings waking up in anticipation of going to the farm. Upon arriving my parents would shop around buying fresh fruits and vegetables that were either grown at this particular farm or other farms in Oregon. They would buy me an orange crush in a glass bottle, give me some quarters and off I went to go see and feed the animals at the farm. I can testify that nothing tastes better than fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables. This experience, which I would learn later, would help contribute to the ways I eat now. I realize that I took for granted knowing where my food came from. Arriving in Colorado and looking through the various aisles of the grocery store, I realize I have no clue where these fruits and vegetables are coming from. After talking to my older sister who has been a resident of Colorado for about eight years now I learned that not a lot is grown in Colorado. There aren’t many local farms in and around the Denver, Colorado Springs area. She told me that the nearest place to pick strawberries was at least a two-hour drive, and even then they weren’t the same caliber as fresh locally grown Oregon strawberries. This seemed absurd to me. Every summer my mom and I go pick fresh organic strawberries from a small local berry farm within five minutes of my house. These facts made me further realize just how much I took growing up in Eugene Oregon for granted. Through my manifesto I wish to explore the ways in which fresh locally grown produce contributes to my food consumption. I am also going to explore the sustainability factor of locally grown produce and farmers markets, and how this effects how I eat.  

During the summer one of my favorite things to do is go berry picking with my mom. Nothing beats waking up early before the afternoon heat to go pick fresh berries right off the vine. This has been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember. Just five minutes from my house in what seems to be a typical neighborhood is a small organic berry farm. Every year we frequent this farm because of its close proximity to my house. One of my favorite berries to pick aside from raspberries is the marrionberry. Recently I found out that the marionberry was “developed by Oregon State University's Agricultural Research and Development Program in Corvallis, Oregon” (Mersinger p.1). Oregon State with the help of George F. Waldo of the USDA began development of this hybrid in 1945 in the Willamette Valley. The new berry was tested at Willamette Valley farms and later introduced to the public in 1956 (Mersinger p.1). The berry was originally named the marion blackberry or marionberry for short. The new berry was named after Marion County, the county in which the berry originated. Since living in Colorado I have not had the opportunity to go berry picking. Berry picking I have come to realize is not as accessible in Colorado as it is in Oregon. This could be due to numerous factors. The main factor being that berry farms are not in close proximity to my location, and the fact that I do not have a car. This makes it very difficult to travel to berry farms in Colorado.

Because the marionberry is mainly grown in Oregon it can be found in a variety of products. The marionberry is quite a versatile berry. The marionberry is also good for your health, just as most berries are. During the summer restaurants all over Oregon offer special marionberry foods. One of my personal favorite restaurants McMenamins offers marionberry cobbler a la mode in the summer. The sweet yet also tartness of the berries mixed with the melting of the vanilla ice cream makes this dessert irresistible. Aside from marionberry cobbler there is also marionberry pie, milkshakes, jams, jellies, syrups, and ice cream. All of which are wildly popular in Oregon. Tillamook, a local ice cream company during the summer month’s makes marionberry pie ice cream, which happens to be a personal favorite of mine. All of the products listed above are all local products. Eating the marionberry I am assured that it came from Oregon. I have a sense of security knowing that a fellow Oregonian grew this berry. It is important to me to know where my food is coming from. When I go pick marionberries I feel a connection with the berry that I am eating. I am able to meet my fellow neighbor who grew this berry. Knowing who grew the food that I am consuming gives me a sense of security. In Colorado I find that I am unaware of where my berries are coming from. While in Colorado I feel a huge disconnect from the food that I am consuming.

            Oregon is known for being a very green and sustainable state, so it comes to no surprise that there are several farmers markets around the state. Farmers markets are places where local farmers come to gather and sell their produce to fellow community members. This produce is grown locally, meaning it has been grown within one hundred miles of where the farmers market is held. Living in Eugene I am privileged to have the ability to frequent the farmers market during the summer. Every Saturday starting in April and running through November several local farmers gather in downtown Eugene to sell their produce. This along with the Saturday Market has been a long-standing tradition within the Eugene community since nineteen seventy. Many people seek farmers markets to buy their produce because of the notion that they are supporting their fellow community members. Talking with my parents who have been long time residents of Eugene can testify that Eugene’s Saturday market has grown not only in size but also in popularity over the years. However Eugene is not the only state in which you can find farmers markets. According to Roseanne Harper’s article Farmers Markets: Fresher to You offers that farmers markets in the United States has “increased from 1,755 in 1994 to 3,700 in 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service figures. The numbers continue to grow” (1). This increase in farmers markets across the United States could be attributed to the publics growing interest in knowing where their food comes from and who grows it. Speaking with friends and family members on the idea of farmers markets I got the notion that they liked knowing that their food was fresh and grown within close proximity to their homes. It has been said that food bought at a grocery store can travel as much as thirteen hundred miles before reaching your plate (Cohen 1). To put this into perspective the distance between Eugene Oregon and Denver Colorado is one thousand two hundred and seventy-seven miles. That is a large distance for a tomato to travel, not to mention how long it takes for that tomato to reach the store to then reach your plate. Knowing this fact I can further relate to the appeal of farmers markets and locally grown produce.

            Shopping at farmers market has numerous positive impacts not only on health but on the local and state economy as well (DeWeerdt 20). When choosing to give your dollar to a local farmer you are not only helping the farmer but the local economy as well. This dollar will continue to circulate the community thus helping the local economy. To further support this notion Sarah DeWeerdt’s Article Local Foods: The Economics mentions that “If people in the Central Puget Sound region (Seattle and nearby cities, including Tacoma, Bellevue, and Everett) spent 20 per- cent of their food dollars at local food businesses such as farmers markets and locally owned restaurants, it would inject an extra billion dollars every year into the region’s economy” (21). This is a huge deal considering the current economic state that we are currently facing.

            However the local economy is just one benefit of buying locally. Considering that food travels at least thirteen hundred miles before reaching the plate means that there is a lot of energy going into not only the production but to the travel as well. According to the Center for Disease Control’s website “Food grown and produced far away requires transportation to reach the dinner table, eating locally saves energy by reducing the amount of fuel used to transport these products”. If you think about it farmers who travel to farmers markets are using minimal energy and fuel to transport their food, as compared to food that travels great distances. As we are well aware oil is becoming more of a scarce commodity and has stark consequences on the environment. I can only imagine how many gallons of oil it takes for a tomato to travel thirteen hundred or more miles before it reaches the dinner table. By buying locally you are helping to reduce oil consumption as well as helping the environment.

            Lastly and perhaps the most important benefit to eating and buying locally is the health benefits. When buying produce locally it is picked at the peak of freshness and then brought to the farmers market. In the introduction of Barry Estabrook’s novel Tomatoland he mentions that because of the mass production of tomatoes they contain “30 percent less vitamin C, 30 percent less thiamin, 19 percent less niacin, and 62 percent less calcium” as compared to tomatoes produced in the nineteen sixties (5). This is a significant drop in essential nutrients. Lisa Ramirez a writer for The Herald-Record further supports the notion of local produce being healthier. In her article Farm Fresh:the Health Benefits of Buying Local produce lends that “How long a bunch of romaine lettuce has been sitting around, it turns out, has a direct impact on just how good that romaine really is for you. That's because food starts to change as soon as it's plucked from the earth and tender vitamins such as C, E, A and thiamine begin to deteriorate”. When buying fresh local produce you are fully reaping its nutritional benefits. Although I cannot prove it I can assure you that along with health benefits fresh produce taste better. Every summer my parents grow tomatoes in the back yard. These tomatoes are by far tastier and juicier than the ones found in the grocery story. My sister’s who both frequent the farmers market also cite the taste factor when buying local produce.

            My eating habits in Colorado and Oregon are different. Since living in Colorado I have yet to go to a farmers market. While in Oregon I frequent the farmers market several times during the summer. Living in a smaller city with access to a car makes it easier for me to go to the farmers market. Living in a much larger city like Denver makes it difficult for me to go the farmers market due to the fact that I don’t have access to a car. Having access to a car makes it a lot easier to frequent farmers markets especially in a large city. While in Oregon I find myself venturing out to the farm quite frequently during the summer as well. This once again is attributed to the fact that it is very close to my home in Oregon. In Colorado there are no farms within ten minutes of my house. This makes it difficult for me to frequent the farm. I find myself eating a lot healthier and locally in Oregon than I do in Colorado. I feel that this is because once again things are in closer proximity to my house and I have transportation to get there. As I prepare for my journey back to Oregon this summer I am excited to go to the farm as well as the farmers market. I am looking forward to reconnecting with the food that I eat. In the future I hope to find a farmers market in Denver and frequent it at least a couple of times. I feel that this would help me to feel more connected not only to the city and its people but also to its local food.

            I feel very fortunate to have grown up in an environment, which allows me to buy fresh locally grown produce. There are numerous benefits to buying local, which include economic, sustainability and health factors. I gain a sense of satisfaction when I go berry picking every summer knowing exactly where my dollar is going. I am able to meet the person behind the berry and ask them questions. I also feel that by buying local I am reducing my carbon footprint. Plus there is always the satisfaction of eating the berries after a hard morning’s work. For me going to the farms is a nostalgic experience. Waking up early going to the farm, seeing real life animals and feeding them. I feel as though American’s have become disconnected from their food. We no longer know where our food is coming from or who is growing it. As a nation we need to become healthier, the first step starts with reconnecting with our food and the people who grow it.

           

Works Cited

DeWeerdt, Sarah . "Local Food: The Economics ." World Watch (2009): 20-24. Web. 27 May 2012. <http://www.sustainlv.org/wp-content/uploads/Local-Food-WorldWatch.pdf>.

Estabrook, Barry . Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit. Kansas City , MO : Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, Print.

Harper, Roseanne. "Farmers Markets." Supermarket News 54.17 (2006): 45-. ProQuest Central. Web. 27 May 2012.

Mersinger, Monica. "Marionberries A Delicious Part of Salem's Past." Salem Online History . Salem Public Library , Web. 8 May 2012. <http://www.salemhistory.net/commerce/marionberries.htm>.

"Prevention and Preparedness." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 14 Dec. 2009. Web. 27 May 2012. <http://www.cdc.gov/climatechange/prevention.htm>.

Ramirez, Lisa . "Farm fresh: the health benefits of buying local produce." Times Herald-Record. RecordOnline.com , 23 July 2008. Web. 27 May 2012. <http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080723/HEALTH/807230315/-1/HEALTH05>.

"SATURDAY MARKET: A Historical Perspective." Eugene, Oregon's Saturday Market. Web. 27 May 2012. <http://www.eugenesaturdaymarket.org/smhist.html>.

Strick, Bernadine . "Marionberry." The Oregon Encyclopedia . Web. 8 May 2012. <http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/marionberry/>.

EE2 Rough Draft

Growing up in Oregon I was fortunate to be surrounded with fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables. I never realized just how fortunate I was until I left Oregon for the great state of Colorado. However shortly after moving to Colorado I realized just how lucky I was growing up in Oregon. Some of my fondest memories growing up come from going to the farms. The closest farm to my house is just a short ten-minute drive. I remember summer mornings waking up in anticipation of going to the farm. Upon arriving my parents would shop around buying fresh fruits and vegetables that were either grown at this particular farm or other farms in Oregon. They would buy me an orange crush in a glass bottle, give me some quarters and off I went to go see and feed the animals at the farm. I can testify that nothing tastes better than fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables. This experience, which I would learn later, would help contribute to the ways I eat now. I realize that I took for granted knowing where my food came from. Arriving in Colorado and looking through the various aisles of the grocery store, I realize I have no clue where these fruits and vegetables are coming from. After talking to my older sister who has been a resident of Colorado for about eight years now I learned that not a lot is grown in Colorado. There aren’t many local farms in and around the Denver, Colorado Springs area. She told me that the nearest place to pick strawberries was at least a two-hour drive, and even then they weren’t the same caliber as fresh locally grown Oregon strawberries. This seemed absurd to me. Every summer my mom and I go pick fresh organic strawberries from a small local berry farm within five minutes of my house. These facts made me further realize just how much I took growing up in Eugene Oregon for granted. Through my manifesto I wish to explore the ways in which fresh locally grown produce contributes to my food consumption. I am also going to explore the sustainability factor of locally grown produce and farmers markets. 

During the summer one of my favorite things to do is go berry picking with my mom. Nothing beats waking up early before the afternoon heat to go pick fresh berries right off the vine. This has been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember. Just five minutes from my house in what seems to be a typical neighborhood is a small organic berry farm. Every year we frequent this farm because of its close proximity to my house. One of my favorite berries to pick aside from raspberries is the marrionberry. Recently I found out that the marionberry was “developed by Oregon State University's Agricultural Research and Development Program in Corvallis, Oregon” (Mersinger p.1). Oregon State with the help of George F. Waldo of the USDA began development of this hybrid in 1945 in the Willamette Valley. The new berry was tested at Willamette Valley farms and later introduced to the public in 1956 (Mersinger p.1). The berry was originally named the marion blackberry or marionberry for short. The new berry was named after Marion County, the county in which the berry originated.

Because the marionberry is mainly grown in Oregon it can be found in a variety of products. The marionberry is quite a versatile berry. The marionberry as most berries are considered to be good for your health. During the summer restaurants all over Oregon offer special marionberry foods. One of my personal favorite restaurants McMenamins offers marionberry cobbler a la mode in the summer. The sweet yet also tartness of the berries mixed with the melting of the vanilla ice cream makes this dessert irresistible. Aside from marionberry cobbler there is also marionberry pie, milkshakes, jams, jellies, syrups, and ice cream. All of which are wildly popular in Oregon. One local ice cream company Tillamook during the summer month’s makes marionberry pie ice cream, which happens to be a personal favorite of mine. All of the products listed above are all local products. Eating the marionberry I am assured that it came from Oregon. I have a sense of security knowing that a fellow Oregonian grew this berry. It is important to me to know where my food is coming from. When I go pick marionberries I feel a connection with the berry that I am eating. I am able to meet my fellow neighbor who grew this berry. Knowing who grew the food that I am consuming gives me a sense of security.

            Oregon is known for being a very green and sustainable state, so it comes to no surprise that there are several farmers markets around the state. Farmers markets are places where local farmers come to gather and sell their produce to fellow community members. This produce is grown locally, meaning it has been grown within one hundred miles of where the farmers market is held. Living in Eugene I am privileged to have the ability to frequent the farmers market during the summer. Every Saturday starting in April and running through November several local farmers gather in downtown Eugene to sell their produce. This along with the Saturday Market has been a long-standing tradition within the Eugene community since nineteen seventy. Many people seek farmers markets to buy their produce because of the notion that they are supporting their fellow community members. Talking with my parents who have been long time residents of Eugene can testify that Eugene’s Saturday market has grown not only in size but also in popularity over the years. However Eugene is not the only state in which you can find farmers markets. According to Roseanne Harper’s article Farmers Markets: Fresher to You offers that farmers markets in the United States has “increased from 1,755 in 1994 to 3,700 in 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service figures. The numbers continue to grow” (1). This increase in farmers markets across the United States could be attributed to the publics growing interest in knowing where their food comes from and who grows it. Speaking with friends and family members on the idea of farmers markets I got the notion that they liked knowing that their food was fresh and grown within close proximity to their homes. It has been said that food bought at a grocery store can travel as much as thirteen hundred miles before reaching your plate (Cohen 1). To put this into perspective the distance between Eugene Oregon and Denver Colorado is one thousand two hundred and seventy-seven miles. That is a large distance for a tomato to travel, not to mention how long it takes for that tomato to reach the store to then reach your plate. Knowing this fact I can further relate to the appeal of farmers markets and locally grown produce.

            Shopping at farmers market has numerous positive impacts not only on health but on the local and state economy as well (DeWeerdt 20). When choosing to give your dollar to a local farmer you are not only helping the farmer but the local economy as well. This dollar will continue to circulate the community thus helping the local economy. To further support this notion Sarah DeWeerdt’s Article Local Foods: The Economics mentions that “If people in the Central Puget Sound region (Seattle and nearby cities, including Tacoma, Bellevue, and Everett) spent 20 per- cent of their food dollars at local food businesses such as farmers markets and locally owned restaurants, it would inject an extra billion dollars every year into the region’s economy” (21). This is a huge deal considering the current economic state that we are currently facing.

            However the local economy is just one benefit of buying locally. Considering that food travels at least thirteen hundred miles before reaching the plate means that there is a lot of energy going into not only the production but to the travel as well. According to the Center for Disease Control’s website “Food grown and produced far away requires transportation to reach the dinner table, eating locally saves energy by reducing the amount of fuel used to transport these products”. If you think about it farmers who travel to farmers markets are using minimal energy and fuel to transport their food, as compared to food that travels great distances. As we are well aware oil is becoming more of a scarce commodity and has stark consequences on the environment. I can only imagine how many gallons of oil it takes for a tomato to travel thirteen hundred or more miles before it reaches the dinner table. By buying locally you are helping to reduce oil consumption as well as helping the environment.

            Lastly and perhaps the most important benefit to eating and buying locally is the health benefits. When buying produce locally it is picked at the peak of freshness and then brought to the farmers market. In the introduction of Barry Estabrook’s novel Tomatoland he mentions that because of the mass production of tomatoes they contain “30 percent less vitamin C, 30 percent less thiamin, 19 percent less niacin, and 62 percent less calcium” as compared to tomatoes produced in the nineteen sixties (5). This is a significant drop in essential nutrients. Lisa Ramirez a writer for The Herald-Record further supports the notion of local produce being healthier. In her article Farm Fresh:the Health Benefits of Buying Local produce lends that “How long a bunch of romaine lettuce has been sitting around, it turns out, has a direct impact on just how good that romaine really is for you. That's because food starts to change as soon as it's plucked from the earth and tender vitamins such as C, E, A and thiamine begin to deteriorate”. When buying fresh local produce you are fully reaping its nutritional benefits. Although I cannot prove it I can assure you that along with health benefits fresh produce taste better. Every summer my parents grow tomatoes in the back yard. These tomatoes are by far tastier and juicier than the ones found in the grocery story. My sister’s who both frequent the farmers market also cite the taste factor when buying local produce.

            I feel very fortunate to have grown up in an environment, which allows me to buy fresh locally grown produce. There are numerous benefits to buying local, which include economic, sustainability and health factors. I gain a sense of satisfaction when I go berry picking every summer knowing exactly where my dollar is going. I am able to meet the person behind the berry and ask them questions. I also feel that by buying local I am reducing my carbon footprint. Plus there is always the satisfaction of eating the berries after a hard morning’s work. For me going to the farms is a nostalgic experience. Waking up early going to the farm, seeing real life animals and feeding them. I feel as though American’s have become disconnected from their food. We no longer know where our food is coming from or who is growing it. As a nation we need to become healthier, the first step starts with reconnecting with our food and the people who grow it. 

Food Just Isn't Food Anymore... It's Scientific

Both Pollan and Dupuis’s article made me think about the foods that I eat or in Pollan’s case non-foods. Often times when I am eating I don’t ask myself what the nutritional content of it is. I eat it and that’s that. However Pollan made me think about this habit of mine, and how it could be damaging to my health. Prior to reading Pollan’s piece I hadn’t considered that much of the “food” on the shelves of the grocery store isn’t actually food. He made the point “Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food”. This to me struck me as interesting and mad me think. The first example that came to my mind was fruit snacks. Fruit snack not surprisingly do not contain fruit whatsoever. Instead it contains a slew of unpronounceable names. This I doubt would be considered food to my great-great-grandmother.

            Pollan also explored the idea of nutritionism. Pollan’s nutritionism “arose to help us better deal with the problems of the Western diet, has largely been co-opted by it, used by the industry to sell more food and to undermine the authority of traditional ways of eating”.  This idea I feel nicely links to Dupuis argument. Dupuis explored the ways in which “nutritionism” arose in the United States. American’s wanted to prove that their diet of milk and meat was far superior to that of other cultures specifically the Chinese. Dupuis went through the history of vitamins germs and calories in the United States. American’s thought that since their food contained vitamins and more calories meant that their diets were healthier than that of the Chinese. This however was not true. Especially when you think of today’s issues. It is suggested that meat especially red meat should me consumed in small portions and shouldn’t be the main entrée on the plate. It is also suggested that we should eat more plant-based foods, like the Chinese did and still do today.  I find it interesting that how American’s ate a hundred years ago essentially paved the way for how American’s eat today. Many Americans describe their eating habits as “meat and potatoes”. However this attitude is very problematic. Eating large quantities of red meat is in fact not good for you.

            After reading both articles I’m not sure if my food habit will change or not. I know that in two weeks when I am home I will be eating healthier. I will have a better variety of fruits and vegetables. Here at school I feel that I do not eat how I should based on the fact that it is not offered. I feel that from now on I will be more aware of what foods I am eating and try to avoid foods with names that I cannot pronounce. However I know that this is no simple task. In a perfect world I would eat organically and do all of my shopping at whole foods. However for many Americans this is simply not practical.

            

Fruits and Veggies Everyday Keep Cancer at Bay?

Growing up my parents always stressed the importance of eating my fruits and vegetables. I never really knew why, but I did it so that I could get dessert after dinner. Last week while looking at my food log as well as my peer’s I realized that none of us really ate fruits or vegetables. Whenever I am in the dining hall I always try to grab a piece of fruit. However the variety is usually pretty slim. The staples as far as fruit goes are tasteless apples and bruised bananas. Vegetables I have noticed are always soaked in butter, which defeats the purpose of vegetables. So I can see why no one is really eating his or her fruits and vegetables. However a couple years ago I remember hearing of a study that said eating fruits and vegetables could lower the risk of cancer. However a recent study shows that this may not be the case.

In the article Study Further Erodes Evidence for Eating Fruits and Vegetables to Prevent Cancer Mike Mitka reported on the recent findings. It was once believed that by consuming fruits and vegetables could reduce your risk of cancer by as much as fifty percent. However recent studies are now showing that this might not be the case. Mitka reported Paolo Bofetta, MD, MPH, lead author of the study and deputy director at the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City as saying, “Our interpretation of the results is that there is a reduction in cancer risk for high intake, but the magnitude is not as big as previously thought” (pg. 2127). According to Mitka this doesn’t mean that this is an excuse to skip fruits and veggies altogether. As it turns out fruits and vegetables do contribute to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and type two diabetes. Eating fruits and veggies helps you maintain a lower weight, which contributes to the reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type two diabetes, among other benefits.

However this study isn’t to say that fruits and veggies don’t contribute to a lower risk of cancer, it just isn’t as high as once reported. According to Mitka “researchers found that increasing fruit and vegetable intake by 200 g daily was associated with a 3% reduction in cancer risk. A medium-sized apple weighs about 300 g, while a serving of broccoli weighs about 100 g” (pg.2127). So while this isn’t as much as once thought it is still a reduction in one of the most feared and deadly diseases.

Even though eating fruits and vegetables may not reduce your risk by fifty percent, there are still other health advantages. Eating the recommended serving of fruits and vegetables helps you maintain a healthy weight, which in of it self leads to many health benefits. The study did say that by eating healthy and minimizing junk food mixed with regular exercise is the recipe for an increased life span. So next time while I am at the dining hall I will try a little harder to seek out fruits and vegetables that are more appealing. After all it could just help me live a healthier and longer life.

Works Cited:

Mitka, Mike. "Study Further Erodes Evidence for Eating Fruits and Vegetables to Prevent Cancer." American Medical Association 303.21 (2010): 2127-2128. Web. 16 May 2012. <http://jama.jamanetwork.com/data/Journals/JAMA/4515/jmn0602_2127_2128.pdf>.