Volume iII / Issue I
The Food ISSUE
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TABle of contents Cultural tastes
2
Local fare
3-4
Where robots serve you
5-6
fed up.
7-8
you vs. food
9-10
Gluten freE & vegan Recipes
11-12
OUR MISSION Carlmont Journalism is a nationally renowned media arts program run by the students of Carlmont High School. Our staff of 120 people works to deliver the latest news to our student body of 2,200, their families, and the community. News, within our school and beyond, is important to us, so we are committed to providing timely information, current events, and thought-provoking ideas to our audiences through storytelling, design, video, photography, and other emerging technologies. More than just another high school journalism program, our mission is to think beyond the “Bay Area Bubble” and stretch the community’s mindset to include those of the rest of the state, country, and world. We aim to encourage our community to step up and be educated advocates of change.
Scotlight is Carlmont High School’s spotlight magazine, distributed three times a year to our community. Spotlight stories take a deeper look at issues that are important to our audience and examine multiple aspects and angles. Our mission is to stimulate thoughts in our readers that are otherwise glossed over by offering in-depth feature stories that dig deeper into the lives of those around us. We aim to engage our readers through thoughtprovoking articles, photography, and design.
LEtter From the editor Dear Reader, Food has its place in every culture, every place, and every life. For chefs, connoisseurs, and foodies alike, food is their passion — their whole world. For others, however, food is simply what it is: sustenance. We eat to live, stay healthy, and get through our day-to-day lives. Food also helps build relationships between people. Meals are vehicles for family gatherings and outings with friends. Holidays are often celebrated around a dinner table with relatives and loved ones. Because so many different viewpoints and perspectives exist, there is really no one way to approach the broad topic of “food.” Therefore, this first 2018-2019 issue of Scotlight aims to slice it up for you. We present the lighter topics, such as orders to grab at local eateries and sweet vegan dessert recipes. However, we also bring more heavy items to the table, like where corruption lies in America’s food industry and how to know if you have an unhealthy relationship with what you eat. All of these topics are significant to food culture and are what makes the subject as diverse as it is. Sincerely, Kylie Lin Editor-in-Chief
STAFF Benjamin Balster Maya Benjamin Sarah Cheung Samantha Dahlberg Joseph Gomez Nina Heller Sam Hosmer Ry Lei KYLIE LIN Rachel Matatyaou Briana McDonald Kimberly Mitchell
Cultural Tastes Here at Carlmont, we value diversity. For many students, a part of their culture exists in the form of food. For some, food provides a sense of cultural identity that is fun to eat and easy to share.
Iman Sarsour
“Gastronomy is a huge part of my Middle Eastern and Muslim culture. For religious reasons, I don’t eat pork or any food containing alcohol. Some of my favorite savory Levantine foods include Mansaf, a type of rice dish made with yogurt soup and usually topped with lamb and pine nuts. Msekhan is almost like a pizza topped with caramelized onions, sumac and sometimes chicken. Maqluba, literally meaning ‘upside down,’ is a dish made of layered rice, fried eggplant, tomatoes, and onions, cooked in lamb broth — when it’s all done cooking and the liquid is boiled off, the pot in which it was cooked is flipped upside down onto a big platter and almost looks like a cake. Dawali is grape leaves stuffed with spiced rice, and Taboola is a type of salad made of finely minced parsley, tomato, and bulgur lemon. For dessert, many Levantines make a dish
called Atayef; it’s almost like a fried crêpe blitz, stuffed with sweet cheese and drenched in syrup. My religion, ethnic heritage [Palestinian], nationality [American], gender, role as a student, and enviornment each interact to formulate my identity. The foods that I eat and enjoy are an aspect of my culture and a reflection of family traditions passed on by my predecessors and are therefore an aspect of my identity.”
Josh Barde
“If I were a more conservative Jew, I could be kosher, which means no mixed meat and milk, no shellfish or pork, and the food has to be prepared in a special way. My religion has many types of food which we associate with our culture. Even though I am not kosher, there are foods that are associated with the Jewish culture. Latkes are potato pancakes eaten during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Matzah is unleavened bread eaten during Passover, another holiday. Other ‘Jewish food’ is more related to the part of the world the person comes from, not necessarily the religion itself.”
design: rachel matatyaou
02
A cursory look at your local Carlmont
E S E S R II E E R T E A T E A
Yaua
75
$3
is located across the street from Carlmont Shopping center and offers a large variety of bubble tea. Pictured are a Coconut Thai Milk Tea and Passion fruitLychee black tea with tapioca pearls and pomegranate popping boba. Priced at $3.75-4.00 each for a large, The drinks at Yaua are a great option for an afterschool refresher.
Waterdog Tavern
Located in scenic western Belmont, Waterdog Tavern brings the spirited “Carlmont Burger” to the table. tWith a price of $16, you get a patty served to your liking, cheese, “hush hush” sauce, tomato, butter pickles, shredded romaine lettuce, and caramelized onions, all on a toasted brioche bun. Eat while appreciating the pleasant ambience of local history, furnished by items from the Belmont Historical Society.
the
the
$16 Mr. Pickles
“Scot”
$10
49
03
“Carlmont Burger”
From Mr. Pickles, just off of Ralston Avenue in hearty comes Belmont, Downtown the “Scot,” a humble sandwich bacon, pastrami, containing avocado, and cream cheese between a sourdough roll.
n t o n m o l m B ee l B writing: benjamin balster , sarah cheung, joseph gomez design: sam hosmer
serves a Lamb Kabob Plate consisting of two skewers of grilled lamb and beef on a bed of rice, a small salad of cucumbers, lettuce, and tomato, and pita bread with a generous portion of hummus, as well as some vegetables on the side. For $1.85, one can add a piece of baklava for dessert, great for its intended strong sweetness and flakiness.
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$16
Patxi’s
What high school student’s food consumption doesn’t include pizza? Thus we find ourselves at Patxi’s in downtown San Carlos, which serves up an extensive but pricey collection of classy deep-dish and thin-crust pizzas for the hungry secondary school student. Patxi’s Pizza offers the “Favorite,” a deep-dish pizza with a pepperoni-stuffed crust, olives, mushrooms, and heaps of red sauce. The typically thick crust was proportioned to be less than overpowering, which made sure to highlight the toppings rather than the bread.
The “Favorite”
$26
(12”)
We also ordered some meatballs, served alongside freshly baked (or warmed) garlic bread and with a tomato-sauce dip.
$9
local fare
Falafel Tazah
s os lo rl ar Ca n C an Sa S (and Redwood Shores)
04
writing and design: kimberly mitchell Robots have seamlessly integrated into the Bay Area’s food and restaurant industries over the past couple of years as more companies have adopted an increasingly automated business model. From quinoa bowls at Eatsa to the coffee at Cafe X, though robots may not be taking over the world for now, they will be taking your order at these San Francisco restaurants.
CAFE X
05
Surrounded by coffee chains such as Peet’s Coffee and Starbucks lies Cafe X— a coffeebar where although baristas can’t express their feeings, they can serve the perfect espresso in under a minute. Henry Hu created Cafe X in order to combine specialty espresso-based beverages, nitrogen infused cold brew, and more without the long lines of traditional cafés through automation. While the robot handles drink production, passionate coffee experts provide a humanistic aspect to the cafe by educating customers on the technology and the background of each bean. “We are demonstrating that it is possible to have a much better customer experience when robots and humans work together,” said Sam Blum, Community Manager at Cafe X. The robotic baristas take orders from espressos, nitro cold brews to matcha lattes, and while they can’t make latte art, customers are able to customize their drinks through kiosks and the Cafe X app. While some ventured inside the cafe out of curiosity or to add to their Instagram feed, regulars such as Dan find that the robotic baristas add more to just their Intagram stories. “It’s the least crowded coffeehouse in the city,” said Dan. “Having everything be fully automated really saves me time in the morning and the coffee tastes great too.”
EATSA No lines. No cashier. Just a flavorful, nutrientdense lunch on the go. Located on California Avenue, just a seven minute walk from Cafe X, lies Eatsa, a vegetarian grain bowldispensary where robots work with precision to craft custom quinoa bowls. Those who enter Eatsa find themselves in a brightly lit restaurant where customers order from a touch-screen kiosk, and after a short wait, they will find their name lit across one of the glass “cubbies.” Though the only human employee is a “concierge” that monitors the restaurant, rather than reducing the amount of em-
ployees, Eatsa hopes that it’s automation and affordable vegetarian options will help promote healthy eating. In an article by the Washington Post, Scott Drummond and Tim Young, the leaders of Eatsa’s team, said that they hope to attract health-conscious people with Eatsa’s hearty salads and quinoa bowls stuffed with green beans, avocado, and root vegetables. “We want to help people get healthy almost by accident,” said Dave Friedberg, the chief executive officer of Climate Corp, a Monsantoowned company, who is one of Eatsa’s main backers.
CREATOR This summer, San Francisco had a taste of the thinking about how technology could be used to imworld’s first robot-made burgers for just $6. prove the food industry. The 14-foot-long machine contains around “I thought, ‘Why aren’t we bringing [this tech7,000 parts, costs under $1 million, and is an all-in- nology] to the restaurant space for better food?’” Varclusive burger-making device that accomplishes each dakostas said in an interview by Eater. “Why can’t we step of the burger’s preparation, from slicing and make life better for people who work in restaurants?” toasting the brioche buns to grinding meat and sear- Varakotas values the quality of food and acing the burger to order in five minutes. cording to its website, Creator spends more on ingre While the madients than any other chine itself is an incrediburger at their price bly advanced engineering point and hopes to reachievement, the eightduce the cost of high year project was fueled quality food. by founder Alex Varda Though the kostas’s desire to improve Creator is temporarhow food is made. ily closed for further As he worked in development, there is the labs of University of currently a waitlist for California in Santa Bar its next opening on bara, Vardakosttas began Nov. 1. Aubrie Pick, Creator, use with permission
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FED UP. Exploring the hidden side of food. Have you ever wondered where your food comes from? Who makes it? Have you ever wondered why that person makes it? Maybe, like most people, they choose to work in the food industry in order to support themselves. However, they might be forced to. They come from all over the world, attracted to the promise of an income and a better life for themselves. Many of them are smuggled into the U.S. and forced to work in various roles in the restaurant industry, as bussers or wait staff or cooks, and often live in tight and cramped living spaces.
writing: nina heller design: ry lei
07
Polaris, an organization that fights human trafficking and helps survivors, analyzed 32,208 reports of human trafficking and 10,085 reports of labor exploitation that were processed using their through its hotlines for victims between 2007 and 2016. Polaris overall makes use of 25 categories, and three of them relate to the food industry: restaurants, bars, and agriculture. According to the report, traffickers find a way to take advantage of people using “language barriers between exploited workers and patrons — and in some cases other workers at the same restaurant
who are not being abused — to help avoid detection,” due to the fact that many of those who are being trafficked are immigrants. Traffickers will provide their victims with empty promises and false claims of hope to make them work. Because many victims of human trafficking are brought into this country illegally, traffickers will promise them citizenship, but never actually provide it. Many workers never actually receive their pay, either. It is most often withheld from them, or they have to fork it over to their employers in order to “pay” for the citizenship they will never actually receive.
Fair trade. You’ve probably heard of it. Ben and Jerry’s, Patagonia, and Kashi all proudly bear the moniker of being “fair trade.” But what makes it fair? According to the World Fair Trade Organization, “Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency, and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers.” In simpler terms, fair trade is the fair and proper compensation of those who produce goods used daily by consumers. In the production of fair trade commodities, there is no forced labor or poor working conditions, and fair pay is a given. In contrast, products that aren’t fair trade, such as
most coffee and cocoa, use unsafe practices for the workers and for the enviornment. According to NPR, most of the coffee consumed by people living in the United States is the result of tropical forests being cut down, and workers earning very little in order to produce it. One of the largest sources of corruption surrounding non-fair trade comes from West Africa. According to the European campaign for fair chocolate, 70 percent of the world’s cocoa comes from Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon, with the Ivory Coast and Ghana being the largest producers. A 2015 report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Tulane University found more than 2 million children were working in what was defined as “hazardous” conditions in the Ivory Coast. So before you take a sip of your coffee tomorrow morning, take a moment to think.
Everything you love to eat might be a lie. According to the Food Safety Net Services (FSNS), food fraud is the act of purposely altering, misrepresenting, mislabeling, substituting or tampering with any food product at any point along the farm–to–table food supply–chain. Fraud can occur in the raw material, in an ingredient, the final product, or in the food’s packaging. Food fraud isn’t new —it dates all the way back to Upton Sinclair’s publishing of The Jungle in 1906, a boowhich detailed the uglies of the meat industry, like rat parts being mixed into sausages. Food fraud in 2018 hasn’t changed much since the publishing of The Jungle. Consumers are still unknowingly ingesting products that aren’t genuine, such as extra virgin olive oil. In some cases, according to the National Consumers League, olive
oil may be labeled as being extra virgin may just be normal olive oil that isn’t extra virgin, with the company that sells it trying to pass it off as so. It might just be refined olive oil, which is made with heat or chemicals that prevent it from being extra virgin, old oil, oils made from rotten olives, or even mixing in seed oils to pass the product off as what it is being labeled as. Sushi is another example. Love it or hate it, your sushi might not be the catch it claims to be. In fact, a 2017 study from UCLA and Loyola Marymount University found of the 26 Los Angeles Sushi restaurants where fish was ordered from, the sushi was mislabeled and did not match the actual DNA of the fish 47 percent of the time. During a one year portion of the study, similar rates of mislabeled fish in grocery stores was found. Whether it be accidental or intentional, it all sounds pretty fishy.
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YOU VS. FOOD
DO YOU HAVE AN UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD?
Sarah Ma’s* image as a carefree and self-confident girl had just been shattered. Everyone knew her secret. The weeks leading up to Ma’s admission to the hospital had been turbulent. Ma had finally reached her weight loss goal of 100 pounds, despite her height of 5 feet and 3 inches. While Ma assumed she would feel jovial to have accomplished her weight loss goal, she still felt insecure. Ma had been binging and purging for months. For years, Ma had been able to dodge her insecurities and push them out of her mind, but at the start of seventh grade, something changed. Ma felt ugly and fat, and she felt the only way to lose weight was to binge and purge. When Ma would eat in the presence of friends and family, she would eat a modestly sized meal and when dinner was over retreat to the bathroom to purge. Ma had assumed that no one had picked up on her unhealthy habit, until one afternoon when her school counselor called Ma into her office. After a lengthy talk with her school counselor, Ma admitted that she was Bulimic. After a doctor’s visit to discuss Ma’s eating disorder, her doctor concluded that she should be admitted to the local hospital as her heart rate had dropped dangerously low. Ma’s story is not uncommon. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 30 million people currently suffer from an eating disorder. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are the most common eating disorder and both involve unhealthy eating habits and are mental health disorders. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, researchers are finding that eating disorders can be caused by lots of factors including genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors. People with Anorexia restrict the
At least
30 million
people of all ages
AND
GENDERS
SUFFER
FROM eATING
DISORDERS
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food they eat and consume very small portions of a select amount of foods. While many suffering from Anorexia can die of starvation, several also die from committing suicide. Those suffering from Bulimia have frequent episodes of eating a large quantity of food, followed by a feeling of guilt triggering the need to either throw up or exercise extensively. While not all people have eating disorders, some are emotional eaters. About 38 percent of adults said they had overeaten or eaten unhealthy foods due to stress, according to the American Psychological Association. About 49 percent of those adults also said they had engaged in this behavior at least once a week or more. Emotional eating is used as a way to cope with one’s negatives emotions such as anger, sadness, boredom, or loneliness. According to Mayo Clinic, even after you emotionally eat, those negative feelings will return in addition to a feeling of guilt for eating a large quantity of food. While emotional eating may sound similar to binge eating, the two are not the same. Binge Eating, Anorexia, and Bulimia, are mental health disorders. Binge eaters also have repeated instances of eating large quantities of food weekly for at least three months. During their binges, they feel as if they can not stop eating or control their portion intake. Emotional eating is only triggered by certain stressors. As with any form of unhealthy eating practices, emotional eating and binge eating can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, or diabetes, according to Mayo Clinic. Treatments for unhealthy eating practices include therapy, adequate nutrition, balanced exercise plans, and in some cases, medication, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. If you or someone you know is suffering from an eating disorder (or unhealthy practices) call the National Eating Disorders Association Helpline at 1-800-931-2247. *Name has been changed to protect the identity of the person. writing: maya benjamin design: maya benjamin, ry lei
5 signs you have an unhealthy Relationship with Food 1. Vomiting after eating According to Dr. Charles Galanis, vomiting after eating or purging could be a sign of Bulimia Nervosa, Bulimia is where someone binge eats and then follows up excessive eating by purging, using laxatives, or excessive exercise.
2. Feeling guilty after eating If you’re feeling guilty after eating you may have an unhealthy relationship with food according to Liana Werner Gray.
3. Being scared to eat According to the Mayo Clinic, being too afraid to eat could be a sign of Anorexia Nervosa, where one restricts their food and counts calories excessively in order to lose weight.
4. Eating when emotional Eating when emotional could mean you’re a stress eater who eats to cope with negative feelings, according to the Mayo Clinic.
5. Hiding eating habits According to Lesley Wirth, if you’re constantly hiding your eating habits or eating in secrecy, you could have a toxic relationship with food.
Tips to having a healthy relationship with food 1. Do not diet, change your lifestyle. 2. Make regular meals a habit. being very hungry can make you more likely to overeat. 3. Find healthy ways to manage stress. 4. Seek professional help.
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Gluten Free, So Sweet Sprinkles Gluten Free Red Velvet Cupcakes Red Velvet Cupcake Ingredients: ~ 1 cup butter ~ 1 ½ cups sugar ~ 2 large eggs (at room temp) ~ 2 ½ cups gluten free flour blend ~ 1 tsp. white wine vinegar ~ 2 tsp. red food coloring
~ 4 tbsp. cocoa powder ~ 1 tsp. baking soda ~ 1 tsp. salt ~ 1 ¼ cups milk ~ 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients: ~ 8 oz. cream cheese, softened ~ 4 oz. (1 stick) of butter, softened ~ 3 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted ~ ⅛ tsp. salt ~ ½ tsp. vanilla Preparation Preheat oven to 350 degrees (°F). Stir together dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt). In another bowl, mix together wet ingredients (milk, vinegar, food coloring, and vanilla). Add creamed butter and sugar, and then mix in eggs. Alternately mix in dry, wet, then dry ingredients. Fill one dozen cupcake cups and bake for 18-22 minutes or until tops are just dry on top. For the Cream Cheese Frosting; Mix cream cheese and butter in a new bowl. Add salt and vanilla. Slowly add in powdered sugar and frost away!
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writing and design: samantha dahlberg
A Vegan Treat Having a vegan diet doesn’t mean you need to loose your sweet tooth.
Chocolate Chip Cookies 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (°F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. 2. In a large bowl, whisk together ½ cup of coconut oil, 1 ¼ cups of brown sugar, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla, beating until well combined. Add in ¼ cup of coconut milk and ¼ cups of applesauce and whisk until well combined; set aside. In a separate bowl combine the 2 ¼ cups of flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon of salt; whisk well to combine. 3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and, using a wooden spoon or very sturdy spatula, stir until ingredients are combined. Fold in 1 ¾ cups of the chocolate chips. 4. Scoop three tablespoon sized mounds of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, leaving a few inches between each cookies for spreading. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the centers have set. Press remaining chocolate chips on top of warm cookies, and sprinkle with sea salt, if using. Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Recipe: Baker by Nature
Basil-Berry Lemonade Sorbet 1. In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. Heat on high until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. 2. Add 1 cup of lightly packed fresh basil. 3. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 15 minutes. 4. Strain syrup into medium bowl, discarding basil. 5. Refrigerate until cold. 6. In blender, puree 6 cups of frozen mixed berries, 3/4 cup of lemon juice and cooled basil syrup until smooth. 7. Transfer to metal 8-inch square baking pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze only until firm enough to scoop (about 2 hours). If sorbet is too hard to scoop, let stand at room temperature until slightly thawed. Recipe: Good Housekeeping
writing and design: briana mcdonald
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Sequoia UNion High School District carlmont High School 1400 Alameda de las pulgas Belmont, CA 94002