Learning Biology

By: Brandon Bish

Have you ever wondered when driving by McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s which one is the healthier choice? Today, I am hear to tell you some of the nutritional facts of a few items in each of the restaurants and also help you make the right choice of food. If you are on a diet, you don’t have to complety eliminate all of these restaurants that we as Americans crave. If you don’t abuse the idea of fast food and make the right choices then you can continue to drop pounds off of your body. When figuring out what choices are best I am going to use calories.

First, I am going to start with McDonalds. Here is a list of some of the main items that people choose:

• The plain Hamburger is 250 calories
• The medium french fry is 380 calories
• A five piece chicken select is 660 calories

Next, is some of the popular choices at Burger King:

• Plain Hamburger is 290 calories
• The six piece chicken tenders are 270 calories
• A medium fry is 480 calories

Finally, Wendy’s nutritional facts are:

• Plain Jr. Hamburger is 220 calories
• 5 piece chicken nuggets is 230 calories
• A medium fry is 430 calories

I know you may look at this information and say that Wendy’s is the healthiest restaurant, but take into consideration that I don’t have any of the other ingredients except calories listed. To find out the other nutritional facts click on the resources below.

Now, its time to figure out how to incorporate fast food into your diet. Instead of picking a hamburger you could choice a grilled or a broiled chicken sandwich. Steer clear of anything that has to do with fried food. There is really nothing to choose that can replace that great taste of french fries, but they should be eliminated from all diets because of the salt intake instead make the right choice with a salad. If you do have a salad stay away from large portions of salad dressing. Also, avoid have the restaurant but the ketchup and mustard on themselves, ask for a small pack of ketchup to avoid excess ketchup.

I have given you all the resources that you need to eat healthy. Hopefully you will think about all of the choices that are available and make the right decision. Health should be one of our top goals in life so anytime you can make a good choice to help your body, you should take advantage of that.

Resources

<ref> http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutrition_facts.html <ref>

<ref>  http://www.bk.com/Nutrition/PDFs/NutritionalBrochure.pdf <ref>

<ref> http://wendys.com/food/pdf/us/nutrition.pdf <ref>

<ref> http://www.helpguide.org/life/fast_food_nutrition.htm <ref>

By Erika Bizousky Pd. 1

You’re standing at the grocery store with two vegetables that look almost the same. The only difference is that one has a “USDA Certified Organic” sticker on it. So what’s the difference between the ‘conventionally grown’ vegetable and the ‘certified organic’ one? There are many differences and similarities between these two foods, but which one is better for you and which should you choose to buy?
Here is a good article that represents this issue: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255

First, we should recognize how each of these foods is produced. The conventionally grown fruit has chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth, while organic farmers use natural fertilizers such as manure or compost. To reduce pests and disease, conventional farmers spray insecticides on their plants. Organic farmers used birds, insects, or traps to reduce pests and disease without the use of chemicals. Another difference is that conventional farmers also use chemical herbicides to manage weeds, and organic farmers either hand weed, till, or mulch to control their weeds.
As you can see, the differences are mainly in how they are farmed. Organic and inorganic foods also have some similarities too. One of the most important similarities is nutrition. According to the USDA, no conclusive evidence shows that organic food is more nutritious than conventionally grown food. Although, some studies say organic foods are higher in antioxidants because of the lack of additives, pesticides, and MSG, according to The Soil Association. However, both of the foods meet the same quality and safety standards set by the USDA.
Lastly, organic and conventional foods both have positives and negatives. Both might look the same, but did you know conventional foods are cheaper than organic foods? Conventional foods also last longer than organics because they often have waxes or preservatives on them. Organic foods do not have pesticides on them though. Conventional foods do and can have residue on them. This poses a small health risk with conventional farming. Organic farming is also said to benefit the environment by reducing pollution. If you’d like to be more eco-friendly, I suggest purchasing organic products. Most people say they cannot taste any difference between organics and non-organics, but that may be different for everyone.
In conclusion, organic foods and conventional foods are both good to purchase, but I would buy organic foods. Even though they cost more, I would rather spend a little extra money to help the environment than buy cheaper foods that use pesticides. These can cause harm to the environment and possibly even the consumer.  It is your own choice whether to buy conventionally farmed products or organic ones, but I hope I helped by telling you of the information needed to make a good decision.

Resources supporting organic food:
http://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/natural-health-articles/nutrition/pros-cons-organic-foods-00313.html
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/14739.php

Resources supporting conventional food:
http://www.scionline.org/index.php/Pros_and_Cons_of_Organic_and_Conventional_Agriculture
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/organic-farming-no-better-for-the-environment-436949.html

Anthony Pascuzzo

Pd.5

Issues with our Food

A pesticides, is a substance(s) used to kill pests from destroying crops. A pesticide may be a virus or bacteria used as a disinfectant used to exterminate pests. Some pests that you may encounter are insects, birds, and mammals but you know that there is a catch.
The good thing about using pesticides is that you don’t have to worry about pests destroying your crops. Another reason is that if you follow laws of using pesticides there is on harm that can be done to the human body.  The last reason is that you may kill off harmful pests that harmful to the human body.
Here is the catch; the pesticides may be harmful to you and animals. Also pesticides may take away some of the nutrition out of the food. Some people may have an allergic reaction to some of the pesticides.  Another reason pesticides may be bad is that they could not be completely clean and you might get poisoned from them.
My opinion on pesticides is that they should be used because even if they aren’t clean you can clean them at home. Another reason is that if you don’t use pesticides, the pests may destroy your crops. Therefore I think that pesticides should be used for the safety of our crops.

<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesticide<ref>

<ref>http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/<ref>

Haven’t you ever wondered what radiation does to food? Well I have researched it and found that it is beneficial to the food rather than harmful. Radiation is a good thing to have done to food.

Radiation is also good for preserving the food and keeping it fresh. It is safer than the common fumigates used to do this job originally. Also it is faster and easier than canning the food.

It doesn’t cause lose of flavor or color like other forms of food preservation.  Cold storage, salting, fumigation, and drying all leads to flavor, texture and odor loss and it takes longer to do than radiation.

Radiation kills all harmful bacteria and diseases found in the food. The other forms of preservation do not do this. Things like ecoli and salmonella poisonings found in food are killed when put through radiation.

This is why radiation is good for food it preserves it better than other methods, it keeps flavor, color, texture and odor in the fruit and doesn’t dry it out or make it salty.

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_irradiation

http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/food.htm

Dylan Pearce

Pd. 3

3-17-09

Researchers initially said levels of Zeranol, a growth hormone fed to cattle, found in beef were “57,000 times less, literally, than what the FDA has determined is safe.” That’s a huge number to be allowed to be given legally to the cows. Zeranol, and many other growth hormones, are mixed in to feed for the cattle to make them grow fatter faster, ultimately saving money. Now Zeranol isn’t directly linked to any specific diseases, but there is a scare about its connection to breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, in the world.

In Europe, growth hormones are prohibited to be used by farmers. So why can’t we prohibit them here? Farmers argue the supply and demand of beef is where it all comes into play, but I’d rather slow down on fast food rather than voluntarily put my health at risk. If a growth hormone is developed that is some-how processed out of the cow by the time its served to us, the consumer, then I might change my opinion, but to let the growth hormones affect our health in negative ways just to make a “buck” is unethical. Right now the FDA is undergoing a huge follow-up test to the sudden publicity of these growth hormones. Research differs from each study but all say at least that it’s lower than FDA standards.

Now don’t take this essay in the wrong terms, nothing has been proven from the test yet that growth hormones like Zeranol are directly connected to possible health concerns, but have had many eye brows raised over the situation. Honestly if the FDA would even think of a possible food scare than they would recall and test, so we may have nothing to worry about, but think about that the next time you’re eating a burger from your favorite restaurant.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/20/eveningnews/main554857.shtml

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/hormones/

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5543.cfm

Shannon Carpenter   pd. 3

Biology: Issues in Food- Growth Hormones

Do you really know what’s in your food?  Think again.

   Did you know that in 2005, over 32.5 million cattle were butchered to provide beef for the U.S. and that about two thirds of that number were injected with growth hormones to speed up they’re growth rate?  It has been an issue for quite some time now on debating whether or not growth hormones are an advantage in beef and milk production or a huge failure to keep our food safe and overall the consumers who purchase this hormone-exosed food safe.

   I believe that using growth hormones in the production of beef and milk is not worth all of the risks that come attached to it.  Studies show that the exposure to growth hormones in beef could put Americans at risk for infertility and/or women who eat beef regularly are more likely to have boys who grow up to have lower-than-normal sperm counts.  Not only are humans affected, but the animals treated with these hormones are prone to tremendous stress which could cause the cow to loose weight, become infertile, and be infected by a disease more easily.  When a cow gets a disease such as mastitis, the farmer must give the cow antibiotics to help treat it which results in antibiotic residues in milk.  This suggests the idea, that humans can develop health problems from drinking that milk as well as an antibiotic resistance amongst bacteria in the person’s body.  Hormone residues in cow manure can also be a disadvantage in the production of milk and beef.  Apart from the cow manure changing the reproductive capacity and gender of fish, there are also scares of the hormones finding their way back into our foods.

   Although I believe growth hormones mostly cause bad effects on us, animals, and our ecosystem, there are a few beneficial reasons why we use growth hormones.  Milk and beef producers usually inject their cattle with hormones such as rBGH (Posilac) because they help improve the quality of the meat by decreasing the fat content and increasing the creation of lean meat.  Growth hormones can also increase feed efficiency in cows which therefore allows more growth in an animal with less feed.  Last but not least, these hormones reduce the prices for consumers and producers.

   In conclusion, I believe using growth hormones in cattle for the production of beef and milk is not worth the risks that come along with it.  If you agree with me on this issue, there are many ways to take a stand and protect yourself but also decrease the amount of animals who must go through the process of growth hormones.  One way in particular is to buy from your local dairy and beef farmers who don’t use growth hormones in they’re production of foods; this alternative is also sometimes cheaper in the long run.

Resources:

http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php/Growth_Hormones_in_Food#How_growth_hormones_boost_production

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2004-04-01-veal_x.htm

http://www.orpheusweb.co.uk/john.rose/rbgh.html

http://cahi-icsa.ca/pdf/Beef-Hormones-Factsheet.pdf

http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/hormones/

http://www.beefmyths.org/beefmyths/cattlegrowthhormones/

Thomas Wagner

Period 1

Academic Biology

How would you like to see yourself in 5-10 years? Skinny and fit or Obese and exhausted all the time. Well if you know what you want to look like, just a regular bit of eating habits can help you achieve your goal. Its not too complicated to keep a healthy diet. Just think of it as this, make a rule for yourself like that you can only have a certain amount of sweets and junk food each week, if you pass your limit it will take it from your next weeks amount and plus you have to eat extra vegetables next week.

http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/A-Ap/Additives-and-Preservatives.html

It doesn’t take that much to fix your eating style at all. Just go online and check out some simple websites on healthy foods/diets and you can be right on your way to slim on down. The following link will show you some of the healthy foods to eat along with some bad foods you should stay away from. You can’t just expect you to become your ideal figure over night, it will take time and determination, it will also take strength in yourself to give yourself the extra nudge away from the junk foods even though you may want them. How do you think all the athletes become so fit? You think they eat junk food? well they might a little but another key is to exercise daily. Doesn’t have to be anything that over exerts yourself but you can do something as simple as doing a brisk jog, walking your dog, doing some simple fitness drills like push-ups sit ups, all of those can help you in the long run.

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/10foods_bad.html

I personally believe that if you eat right and exercise well you can achieve your ideal weight and appearance that you want for yourself, and of course everybody likes sweets and junk food but you always need to remember when to say “thats enough” when it comes to it.

Pros and Cons of food additives by Jeremy Neese

Some kid is eating some cereal for breakfast. He starts choking and getting a rash. this is all from some sort of food additive.

There are many purposes of food additives. They help to preserve the food longer.  They prevent mold from growing on the produce. It also holds the food together like peanut butter. They also help us get our daily vitamins and minerals. That was some of the good things that food additives do. There are many good things that can come food additives and they should use them. I got the info from here.  http://www.thefreelibrary.com/PROS+AND+CONS+OF+FOOD+ADDITIVES-a079515236

There are some problems with it though. For starters they have been linked to temper with children. Also many kids are allergic to the different food additives. This means that there are still many different kinds of problems with food additives. The problems out weigh the goods in this case. My resources arehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-453431/The-proof-food-additives-ARE-bad-feared.html

My opinion is that we should not use the food additives yet. They present many problems and until we fix them we should not use them. Some of the problems are allergic reactions, problems with children tempers, and there are even some that increase the risk of cancer so avoid this additive Acesulfame K. Now you know the facts so stop using food additives.

Here is a link for good and bad reasons. http://www.swedish.org/16456.cfm

Devan Neal

3rd Period

March 12, 2009

Organic farms do not consume or release man-made pesticides into the environment, as conventional farms do.  Some of these pesticides have the potential to harm soil, water and local terrestrial and aquatic wildlife.  This plays a part in the fact that organic farms are better at maintaining a diverse ecosystem.  None of the plants, fruits, vegetables or animals on organic farms are subject to harmful pesticides or herbicides.  These are just a few of the reasons that I find organic foods to be the better choice over conventional foods.  <ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food<ref>

There are many, many advantages to choosing organic foods over the family favorite, conventional foods.  Organic farmers take care of their crops manually, encouraging the growth of plants with natural fertilizers such as manure or compost.  This is a better alternative to conventional farmers loading their crops with harmful chemical fertilizers to ‘boost’ their plant growth.  When it comes to protecting their livestock from disease or sickness, conventional farmers give the animals medication, anitbiotics and sterioids.  All of these products that are being given to the animals on the farm can show up in the food you grab out of the meat freezer at your local grocery store.  On the other hand, organic farmers fight off disease or sickness in their livestock with a healthy diet, proper hydration, rationalized grazing and clean housing.  Some pesticides that conventional farmers add into our food have been linked to things in a range from headaches to some cancers.  I believe that organic farmers prepare their crops and livestock much better and more safely than their counterparts.  <ref>http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255<ref> <ref>http://www.redbookmag.com/recipes-home/truth-about-organic-foods<ref>

With my stong feelings on the subject in mind, I can respectfully see the opposition’s argument.  One may argue that conventional foods are cleaner and that you get more out of your money because of the size of the food is larger.  Also, conventional foods are cheaper once they hit the shelves in grocery stores.  This is because of the physical labor organic farmers put into preparing their crops.  Some critiques vouch that organic buyers are wasting their money because there is no hard proof that conventional foods truly pose significant health risks.  Also, there are some foods that aren’t really necessary to spend the extra cash on because there are undetectable levels of chemicals in the conventionally prepared version of them.  Even though I feel that organic is the way to go, there are some disadvantages to it as well.  <ref>http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/diet-nutrition/organic-products/organic-products-206/overview/<ref>

In conclusion, I still feel that organic foods are the much better decision in the grocery store.  The pro’s outweigh the con’s by far in my mind.  It is a good health choice for you and your family going with organic foods.  Don’t put yourself in the situation where you consume the hundreds of chemicals and pesticides sprayed onto conventional crops.  More than not, the extra change is well worth the health benefits.  Organic is the better choice.  <ref>http://www.organic-center.org/<ref>

Easton Renwick
Period 3
Academic Biology

Issues with our Food

Have you ever gone to the grocery store to get food? How about a container of strawberries? Did you know that strawberries are among the top fruits sprayed with pesticides! In the article I will introduce to you the pros, cons, and what the main types of pesticides that are used in strawberries.

Strawberries are not only one of the top choices of all Americans for a summer time snack, but are a huge gain in profit for many large businesses that spray pesticides.  Companies across the United States make up to 50 billion dollars just in pesticide production.   About 40 percent of what they make is in fact exported to other countries, making the United States the largest manufacturer of pesticides.  This also creates jobs for many Americans in pesticide production plants.  It has been estimated that approximately millions of lives have been saved from malaria, yellow fever, sleeping sickness, black plague, and typhoid all from spraying pesticides.  In early years, before spraying of pesticides was common, about 35% of the annual crops that farmers grew were killed.  Now, because of pesticides only 20% of the crops are damaged.  There is also one other strong point that makes pesticide use more acceptable.  While spraying pesticides, it had reduced the number of Spruce budworm and gypsy moth that have infected many parts of trees and farms. The links for the information about the good effects for spraying pesticides is found here: http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/Biology/eh01/pesticides/pro,consof_pesticides.html
Although there are many good side effects to spraying pesticides there are also harmful ones. Studies in several animal species have shown that the major three pesticides sprayed on strawberries is rapidly absorbed in the our blood stream from the gastrointestinal tract and is rapidly metabolized.  Pesticides are also very harmful to our lungs, they irritate the lung tissue and can cause severe coughing.  The information about spraying pesticides can be found here.
http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/carbaryl.htm
http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/benomyl.htm
http://extoxnet.orst.edu/pips/captan.htm

I believe that spraying pesticides are good to use because they have prevented many deaths and prevented many diseases .  That is why I believe that spraying pesticides is a good idea.