I enjoy tea.  I use it as a reminder to myself to “settle down”.  I was having lunch yesterday with friends at The Noodle Bar and I ordered the Jasmine tea.  I took a picture of the teapot and totally forgot to take a picture of my food when it arrived.

I fell in love with the teapot.  I really just appreciate the little things in life.  I had the Curry Tofu, by the way.  It was pretty good.

The Hunger Game Movie Review

The Hunger Game is a film about different types of people and how they are divided among the poor and the rich. In the film, the people who are poor live in districts in what the film calls it Panem and the rich live in the capital of Panem. There are twelve districts in the world of Panem. In every district, the people have their own values and identity. The film is focused on a game where it seems that the lives of the poor do not matter to the rich. The film revolves around the poor people of Panem who are hungry. The rich have always been able to control countries. Money has always given people the power to govern certain place where poor people have no say in anything.

The focus of the film and book is food. Food is important for the people in Pamen and for those other counties that don’t have food. The people in the districts are starving. Just like many other countries that we see on television. The difference between Panem and other country is that Panem is being control by the rich on what they can eat and their social economics. Even the name of the place where all the people live is associated with food. In both film and the book the main character is about Katniss and her struggle to feed herself and her family. Katniss memories of Panem in the book was about a night when it was raining and for the first time she saw Peeta Mellark. According to Katniss she describes, “the connection between this boy, Peeta Mellark and the bread that gave her hope.” (Collins, 2008, p.32) The feeling Katniss had when she received the bread was joy, because she had something to take home to feed her mother and sister. Bread is described in every district different because it is based on what is grown in that particular district. Bread is a survival food for those in the districts and for countries that are poor, bread is the easiest and cheapest food that the people can obtain for survival. Bread is also the cheapest way to survive hunger within each district. In the film, bread is seen but it is not common as it is written in the book.

Katniss belongs to district twelve, where most of the people are trained and educated to know about the Hunger Game and working at the mines. The book describes how Katniss her father showed her how to hunt. She felt grateful that her father showed her how to hunt, because this was the only way she can provide food for her family and be able to survive hunger. In the film, it shows her hunting before the game started. In every district, there are people who have children and every child who lives in the district must participates in the games. The age of the participant is from twelve to eighteen. Every district needs to send two people, a boy and a girl. In the film and book, when Katniss’ sister’s name is pulled Katniss looks in shock. She then quickly volunteers on behalf of her sister. She figures that she can do better than her sister, Prim, since she was taught by her father how to hunt and how to make arrows for a bow. In the film, the scene where she was on her way to the Capital, the train was full of food, whereas in the book Katniss is describing the smell and the taste of the food as she is eating it. Since Katniss did not have food to eat on a daily basis, her stomach was not used to eating everything that was given to her prior to the games. Katniss and Peeta ate, but Katniss describes in the book that she could not hold it down. It seems that in The Hunger Games the food was used like a leverage by the Capital because if they would be hungry, they could ask the people that were running the show to provide them with food in exchange for their name being put in the fish bowl multiple times. In the Capital there is a lot of food everywhere they look. Katniss describes juice as the most delicious thing that she has ever drunk, which made her think about her father at one point when she was drink orange juice, because he had brought home a drink that resembles the orange juice. Most of Katniss’ memories of food reminds her of her father and how he provided for the family and how he showed her how to survive.

During the game while they are fighting each other, Katniss is looking around to see what she can eat. She then sees the little girl from District eleven. District eleven’s specialty was agriculture and Rue had a lot of experience with plants and trees. Rue knew which plants and trees they could eat. They help eat other with the hunting. Rue’s knowledge and Katniss’ skill of hunting animals were a great way to stay alive in the game. Katniss sees Rue as her little sister, and she had becomes fond of her. During the game, Rue is killed. In the book, District eleven sends bread, which means a lot to Katniss. She was not sure if it was for her or Rue, but she still made an effort to show District eleven that she was very appreciative with the gift she received. She describes the bread being “sprinkle with seeds.” (Collins, 2008, p.239) then “lifts her face and steps into the last falling rays of sunlight” (Collins, 2008, S. p. 239) to acknowledge that she appreciates the gift they sent her. This is another moment that bread comes into the book and it seems that bread is valuable for those who do not have food every day.

In conclusion, The Hunger Game can be described as a game that favors the rich and gives a disadvantage to those who live in the districts Many of the districts only way of fighting hunger is by asking the people in charge for food and agreeing to add their name multiple times to the fish bowl so they are more likely to be picked for The Hunger Games. This is a game for the rich because they are able to control the economic level of poverty. The rich have always been able to control the different society base on education and money.

Reference:

Collins, S. (2008) The Hunger Games

Ross, G., Tucci, S., Bentley, W., Banks, E., Lawrence, J., Hemsworth, L., Collins, S., (2012). The Hunger Game. United States: Alliance Film.

The Hunger Games

As with most films that are adapted from a novel, The Hunger Games novel provided more detail on the relationship that people had with food, however, the basic premise of the Hunger Games storyline is that heroine, Katniss and her family live in a constant state of food insecurity. The residents of District 12 are not allowed to go beyond the electrified gates of the district without the threat of being captured by government officials or killed by wild animals. “District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety.” Despite that fact, the film opens with Katniss outside of her district, in the woods, hunting for food. Katniss is only sixteen years old, but she has taken on the responsibility of providing for her family since her father was killed in a work accident. Katniss’s mother suffers from sever depression and is incapable of caring for her two daughters. Katniss and her friend, Gale, regularly risk their lives to gather fruits and vegetable and to kill animals to eat and to sell. The first time that we see actual food in the film, Gale shares with Katniss, a piece of bread that he traded for a squirrel. Katniss excitedly puts the bread up to her nose and asks if it’s real. In this case, food is motivation enough to risk life and freedom.

On the day that we are introduced to Katniss and Gale, the residents of District Twelve are to gather up their children for day of the reaping. This is the day that government officials select two children between the ages of 12-18, from each district to participate in the Hunger Games where the fight to the death for on live television. There is a general method for each child to be entered into the reaping, however, poor families usually opt to have their child’s name added more times in exchange for food. Here, parents often sacrifice their children’s lives in exchange for basic food items.
Katniss’s baby sister’s name is pulled in the rendering. Katniss volunteers to represent District Twelve in the Hunger Games in her sister’s place. Shortly thereafter, she is taken by train to the Capital. Everything in the film is in shades of blue and gray until Katniss arrives on the train. The first scene in the train has a buffet style spread that has varieties of pastries, fruits, and beverages in vibrant colors. Even the food back in District Twelve were in muted tones. Food is plentiful during the training for the contenders and more is to come for the winner of the Hunger Games

Early in the throes of the Hunger Games, Katniss is trapped, high in a tree while her foe patiently waiting for her to come down so that they can kill her. A young, spry girl named Rue helps Katniss to escape and nurses her back to health and Katniss shares with the child some meat that she trapped. The meat is offered in exchange for saving Katniss’s life. We see, again, the value of a life in relationship to food.

In the Hunger Games, the contenders from the wealthier districts have more food. A constant theme in the film is that food is the equivalent of money and power. In effort to level the playing field, Katniss destroys her enemy’s food supply. When her foe realizes that he’s lost the food supply, he becomes so enraged that he snaps the neck of the person tasked with guarding the food. Katniss later joins forces with Peeta, also from District Twelve, once they learn that there can be two winners–granted that they are both from the same district. Katniss reflected on a time that Peeta gave her a loaf of bread from his family bakery and in return for this payment she saved his life several times throughout the games.

The key difference between the novel and the film, is the ability that the novel had to provide more detail about the extent to which Katniss had to go in order to get the food to feed her family. I am glad that I was able to read the novel before watching the film. In this case, I understood that Katniss was not just fighting for her life in the Hunger Games, but she was fighting for her ability to survival back home in District Twelve. The Hunger Games served as entertainment for the people of the Capital. The officials kept their citizens in a constant state of food insecurity which drove them to the point where people were willing to kill for food. Welcome to the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games Extra Credit Review

Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games (2008) novel, describes in detail the survival skills young boys and girls must have in order to become a “victor” in the hunger games. The movie The Hunger Games (2012) also details how boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18 must survive the killings in order to successfully become the “victor” in the hunger games. In The Hunger Games (both the novel and the movie) the reader/viewer can understand the need to fight till death for food. The Hunger Games demonstrates the barbaric culture among the districts as they kill each other for food. One can immediately see the inequality that exists between the rich and the poor. In Panem, the rich live in the Capitol and the poor live in the districts. Among the disparity between rich and poor, food is the most evident. This is how one can distinguish the difference that exists among the rich and poor. The rich do not have to compete for food as the poor do. Many of the families in the districts do not have enough food to eat. Food becomes the primary need for the families in Panem.

Katniss Everdeen lives with her mother and her 12-year-old sister. Her father died in a mine explosion. Katniss then becomes the family’s sole provider. Afraid of being caught, she must secretly hunt for food because she knows that it is illegal to do so in the woods (Collins, 2008, p. 3). Hunting becomes part of District 12’s culture. Katniss and Gale, both from District 12, hunt for food for their families. The hunger games are televised games in which one boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts will compete till death against each other for food.  Their names are drawn randomly once a year during what is called the reaping. Food is the most important element in Panem. In chapter one, page six, Katniss states that families in District 12 starve to death, therefore they must obtain food one way or another.

One example from chapter one, page four, from The Hunger Games, the reader can understand how love and food are an important part of their culture. The love that Katniss has for her little sister Prim, demonstrates how this affection is part of their culture. She takes her little sister’s place in the reaping to protect her. At the beginning of the film as well as the novel, Katniss’ little sister, Prim, leaves her a small piece of goat’s cheese on the day of the reaping. For Katniss, this is a dear present from Prim. So dear that she rather save it than eat it right away. As she meets Gale in the woods, he shares a loaf of bread with her and she in return shares the small piece of goat’s cheese Prim gave her. Contrary to the novel, in the movie the audience does not see the piece of cheese on the table, but Gale does share a piece of bread with Katniss. As a reader/viewer, we can appreciate how even sharing a small piece of food is also an important part of their culture. Comparing the novel and the film, there are certain instances where the book is more descriptive than the film. Never the less, one can understand the appreciation the characters have for food.

In chapter two, page 31, from The Hunger Games, Peeta gives Katniss two loaves of burnt bread so she can take home and feed her mother and sister. That became an important moment for Katniss, knowing that Peeta probably took a beating from his mother because of the burned bread. For Katniss, that was a sign of Peeta’s compassionate side, even if he took a beating for it. She thought that he must have burned the bread on purpose because he knew that burned bread was not going to sell. This scene in the film is seen as it is described in the book. Once again, the importance of food plays a big role in the story. Katniss can never forget Peeta’s compassion and somehow her gratitude towards him is what saves him during the hunger games.

Chapter three, page 40, from The Hunger Games, describes how Katniss begs Gale to take care of her family and not let them starve. Although Katniss and her family suffer from hunger, she is well mannered when supper is served on the train ride to the Capitol. Katniss has never eaten so much good food to the point that her stomach resents it because she is not used to eating in abundance. Although there is considerable amount of food before her, she can’t help to think that back at District 12 her family has nothing to eat. Contrary to the chapter in the book, the abundance of food on the table is not visible to the audience on the train ride scene in the film.

The film and the novel each have a specific technique to discuss food and culture in a detailed manner which lets the reader/viewer understand how precious food can be. After reading the book and viewing the film, one can understand that the hunger games is mostly a determination to obtain food for the families of the competitors using methods and skills that will grant them victory in the end. The hunger games are exactly what the title describes, a game where hunger is the driving force to win the competition.

References

Jacobson, N. (Producer), Kilik, J.  (Producer), & Ross, G. (Director). (2012). The Hunger Games (Motion Picture). United States: Lionsgate & Color Force.

Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

The Hunger Games

The film based on the Hunger Games is completely different in respects to how food is represented in the novel. The context surrounding food in the novel is more embellished with detail in regards to the symbolic significance of food in Panem. Food is essentially used to manipulate an entire society. Food deprivation in each district besides the capitol, allows the elite to control factions of Panem. Contrary to the film, which plot line revolves around the violence encountered in the Hunger Games. The film establishes how the reaping and the Hunger Games are used as means of intimidation. Violence is used to instill fear amongst the population. This tactic is used to control the population from revolting against the capitol. It does not necessarily focus the food aspect as much as the novel does. Food is does not take a prominent role in the film. It is only a small component of the entire ordeal. As far as comparing both film and novel, the novel embodied the importance of food in various parts of the book and film doesn’t touch that factor so much.

The film visually depicts food but rarely touches base on how it affects the characters in the film individually. For instance the transaction of bread, between Peeta and Katniss was one of two scenes in the film that resonated with the novel. Bread is an important component in the novel because it holds a symbolic significance in the story as far as how limited food is in Panem. Case in point the interaction Peeta and Katniss had before the reaping involved Peeta generously giving Katniss a piece a loaf which was intended to be sold at his parent’s bakery. “The boy never even glanced my way, but I was watching him. Because of the bread, because of the red weal that stood out on his cheekbone. The boy took one look back to the bakery, then his attention at the pig, he threw a load of bread in my direction” (Collins, 2009). This specific moment in the book is depicted in the film just lightly. The interaction depicts Peeta’s empathy towards Katniss in that specific moment. It also depicts the vulnerable side of Katniss. The transmission or offering of bread can be addressed as a culinary philosophy because it highlights the disposition of the characters. It is a transaction of empathy via means of food. Food in one way or another tells a story in various forms i.e.. cultural and social and economic. Peeta comes from a family better off economically than Katniss and her family.

Moreover,Instances in the novel reveals how Katniss and other characters in the novel react to food. For example, Katniss hunts outside the permitted perimeter for small rottens, rabbits and birds. “The woods became our savior, and each day I went a bit further into its arms. It was slow at first ,but I was determined to feed us. I stole eggs from nests, sometimes managed to shoot a squirrel or rabbit for stew and gathered various plants that sprung beneath my feet” (Collins 2008). Sometimes if she’s lucky while foraging through the forest she could find a variety of plant species that she could take home to her mom. These small endeavors allowed her mother, sister and her to eat meat. Meat is hard to come by in district 12. Squirrel meat is a luxury in district 12 so much so that she could trade it for cookies with the local baker. Pastries, bread loaf and meat are out of reach for people like Katniss.Evaluating the worth of squirrel meat in the novel provides the reader with an in depth look at the socio-economic strife the residents of Panem endure on a daily basis. They are deprived of basic nutrients such as proteins and carbs provoking malnutrition and starvation. Katniss explains that the leading cause of death in Panem is starvation. Starvation isn’t acknowledged on public record by government officials. Deaths under these circumstances are recorded as natural deaths due to illness. This is an attempt by the government officials to cover up the truth about the conditions in which the citizens of Panem live in; a complete contrast to the citizens of the Capitol.

Lastly, author Collins uses these contrast to highlight the socioeconomic class of Panem’s twelve districts and the capitol. It is made evident that capitol’s population do face the same economical hardships like that those that live beyond the district do. They do not undergo starvation, threats of violence or unemployment. They have better comic opportunities and eat whatever they please. Unlike the people of districts 1-12. This division of class and culture plays an important factor in both the novel and the film.

References
Collins, S. (2009). The Hunger games. London: Scholastic.

I had to work late one night at work so I had the option of starting later in the morning.  I dropped the kids off at school and decided to read a few chapters of Roy Choi’s book while treating myself to a little breakfast. I usually skip breakfast.

I stopped at the Jamba Juice in Lakewood to have one of their Energy Bowls.  I ordered the Acai Bowl.  It was as delicious as it was pretty.  I had to zoom into the picture so you cannot see my steering wheel.  (I almost forgot to take a picture because I dove right in.)  I parked under a tree and ate in the car.  I think that $8 is rather pricey so it is a guilty pleasure of mine.  I actually make a similar dish at home.

The Hunger Games (2012): extra credit

                    The hunger games is a book/ film that is based on a young girl named Katniss Everdeen trying to survive in a dystopian version of the United States. Before the hunger games there had been a total of thirteen districts. However, after an uprising; the capital completely obliterated district thirteen to set an example for the rest of the districts. To further discourage any attempt of rebellion the capitol implemented the ‘Treaty of Treason, laws that would guarantee peace and as a reminder they would hold an annual ‘Hunger Games.’ The game was a punishment and it consisted of tributes fighting and killing one another until one ‘victor’ was left, and in turn you would also be bringing honor to your district. Once you reached the age of twelve you were considered eligible and your name would be cast into the reaping as a potential tribute. However, if you were impoverished and starving; you could add your name more times in exchange for tesserae. This tessera was worth a years of supply of grain and oil for one person. When that time of the year came each of the twelve districts would hold a ‘reaping’ in order to provided one boy and one girl from the ages twelve to eighteen. If you weren’t selected you could volunteer to take the place of one of the tributes, but in total there would be twenty four candidates that would part take in the event. It’s important to know that the winner of the event would never have to work for money or scavenge for food for as long as they live… they would be taken care of. This was a perk to districts like one, two, and four because they trained their tributes to be fearsome killers in advance they were known as Career tributes. For the rest of the districts this prize was seen as unobtainable because they were at a serious disadvantage since most of their tributes were malnourished, not suited for combat, and generally unfit to have a real chance at winning,

So how does food and culture contribute to the “Hunger Games?” Well, from the beginning of the film we are introduced to Katniss hunting for a deer to trade and in the book she is concerned about having to feed another mouth because of a cat Prim wanted to keep, and not even a minute after she is entering the woods where she retrieves her bow and arrows and there are venomous snakes, rabid animals, but that if you know how you can also find food. She later reveals going in the woods is illegal and how poaching comes with the most severe penalty, and I think this emphasizes on what someone would do in order to have some food for themselves and their family. In the film and book Katniss is always looking for way to feed her family and herself, and venturing into the woods where she could be killed by one of the animals or be severely punished by the capitol really shows the risks she is willing to take in order to survive, and the only reason she has been able to get away with it is because the peacekeepers are as hungry as everyone else. Katniss considers them some of the best customers. She mocks how in the fall, people from district twelve build up enough courage to sneak into the woods and harvest the apples. However, they’re always close enough to run back to their district if something were to go wrong, “district where you can starve to death in safety,” says Katniss. (ch.1; 6:36) When she meets Gale they become a team and share their hunting secrets with each other and make a pact that of any of them happens to be selected for the Hunger Games that the other would watch out for the family of the one that was chosen. In the book the bread baker lets her know that he will watch over Prim and make sure she’s eating.

Once Katniss volunteers to replace her sister in the games and Peeta has been selected they have a minimal amount of time to say goodbye and Katniss tells Gale to not let her family die (from starvation.) Katniss and Peeta enter a train heading towards the capitol and find there to be way more food than they have ever seen. Katniss immediately begins to stuff her face with food and Effie has to keep reminding her and Peeta to slow down because there would be more food on the way. However, because neither of them have had that much food nor that delicious so  they continued to stuff their faces. At the games Katniss and Peeta were told to run for the woods, but Katniss sees a bow and arrows in the Cornucopia and decides to run for those instead. Before that she got distracted by what she thought was Peeta nodding no so she lost her chance and instead went for a loaf of bread and a bright orange pack. In the book she immediately looks for food. The tributes that didn’t team up with each other spent their time being hungry. They use a “feast” and say that the bags have something that could be life saving, but in turn could just be another way to narrow the list of tributes… another bloodbath. Toward the end of the film the tribute Katniss nicknamed Foxface, was one of the ones that died from being so hungry she failed to notice that the berries she had eaten were poisonous. The berries would later be used by Katniss and Peeta to defy the one victor rule. It’s ironic because they spent their time looking for food and being hungry; only to potentially die from food they found. In other words their disparity was the solution at that point in time.

We are talking about a setting where talking about anything that is deemed controversial can get you severely punished or bring death to you. Even things like food shortages could get you into trouble, and Katniss says she has to bite her tongue and speak accordingly in order to avoid punishment or worse having Prim repeat things she says that could get her killed. The culture developed was so that people would have no way of rebelling we had districts that lived comfortably enough to not want to rebel and if you were someone who did want to rebel you were probably from one of the districts that suffered from malnutrition which meant you weren’t strong enough to fight back against the government that was set up. The odds were not in you favor especially when the better off districts relished with excitement when watching their tributes take out the rest. It was pure entertainment for them both the watching and the killing. Hunger was a way to control the districts because people would be more compliant to do as their told if they are starving or too afraid to starve.

Reference

Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press.

Ross, G., Tucci, S., Bentley, W., Banks, E., Lawrence, J., Hemsworth, L., Collins, S., … Alliance Films. (2012). The hunger games. United States: Alliance Film.

As an extra credit assignment, write a 750 word review of first The Hunger Games film. Focus on how food function in the film relative to the role food plays in the book. A good review will discuss the film and book in terms of food and culture, bringing the discussion of the two together.

The review must be posted here AND uploaded to the submission link on Blackboard

The Hunger Games Film Poster

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Maximum points: 20

Due by March 3. Extra credit work will not be accepted late.

For this class, I need to get into the habit of taking pictures of my food.  I took this picture, however, during my first trip to New Orleans last October because I was so excited to try them.  They were delicious!  While in the French Quarter we visited Café Du Monde .

Because I knew that I would be tired after a full week’s work and I also had plenty of homework to get done this evening, I slow-cooked a pot of navy beans today.   They were spicy before adding a dash of Tobasco–I like my food really spicy.

As I mentioned in class, I love beans and they’re good for you.  Click to see the benefits of navy beans.