There is an old saying, “You are what you eat,” which means that if you eat good food, you’ll be healthy, and if you don’t, you won’t.

But do we really know what we’re eating?

In the past year or two, the news media (newspapers, magazines, TV news, Internet news, etc.) has reported on foods that are purportedly (said to be; claim to be) one thing, but are instead something else, usually something cheaper, of poorer quality, or not meant for (intended for) human consumption (for people to eat or drink).

You buy beef, but it’s really horse meat. You buy salmon, but it’s really dyed (made to changed colors) white fish. You buy saffron, the most expensive spice (substance used to improve the taste of food) in the world, but it’s been doctored (changed to make it appear to be something else) with red dye, a substance know to cause cancer.

I recently read about a non-profit (not intended to make money) website called the USP Fraud Database intended to help regulators (people whose job is to enforce rules and laws) and large-scale purchasers (buyers of large quantities) spot (find) food scams (frauds; tricks) and substitutes (things used instead of the real thing). The database has over 2,000 foods that have been known to be a product of fraud based on food-related research studies. The database even lists those research studies in case you want to know the source (where something comes from) and/or to read more about them.

If you type in “saffron,” that spice I mentioned before, you’ll find that there are over 100 “adulterants,” or substances put into it or in place of it that shouldn’t be there, including flowers, other spices, and even chalk (the white limestone substance sometimes made into sticks to write on chalkboards in classrooms)! Yuck (disgusting)!

You can take a look at the USP Fraud Database yourself and search for foods you commonly eat. But, then again (on the other hand; from another view), sometimes ignorance is bliss (not knowing makes you happier).

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: Packages from Wikipedia

Aristotle said that the goal of every human being is (or should be) happiness. The ancient Greeks had their own definitions of what happiness was, and nearly every important philosopher since that time has tried to give a definition of it.

But why should philosophers have all of the fun (be the only ones to enjoy an activity)? Here are some other ideas about happiness from some famous Americans. See if you agree with their ideas of what it means to be happy. If you don’t, you can put your own definition in the comments.

————–

“Happiness is not being pained in body or troubled in mind.“

-Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson was our third president, and author of the Declaration of Independence. To be pained means to have some injury, to physically feel pain. To be troubled means to be worried or have some problems. In mind here means mentally or psychologically or emotionally.

So Jefferson’s definition is basically negative: Being happy means not being physically in pain or psychologically troubled.

————–

“Nothing can bring you to happiness but yourself.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson was one of America’s great 19th century poets and writers (and absolutely no relation to (not connected to as a family member) the English rock group from the 1970s, Emerson, Lake, & Palmer). Emerson’s quote focuses on who can bring you to (give you or help you to reach) happiness. The answer, Emerson says, is you and you alone.

————–

“Happiness is not a goal; it’s a by-product.”

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Roosevelt was the wife of the great Franklin D. Roosevelt, president of the United States during the 1930s and early 1940s. She seems to disagree with Aristotle, saying that our goal in life is not happiness itself. Instead, she says happiness is a by-product.

A by-product is something that is produced or made in addition to something that is your main goal or objective. For example, when you boil water in your kitchen to cook some eggs, a by-product is steam (water vapor). Your main goal was to boil water, not to make steam, but steam is in this case a by-product. It gets made in the process of boiling the water.

Roosevelt says that by trying to get something else (she does not tell us what), we may also get happiness, but we should not try to seek (look for) happiness itself.

————–

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.”

-George Burns

Burns was one of the most famous comedians and actors in the 20th century, who lived to the age of 100 (he died in 1996). To be caring means to take care of or help someone. A close-knit family is a family where everyone supports each other, where family members are loyal to each other and feel a close connection with each other.

Burns’ funny definition of happiness says that having a wonderful family will make you happy if they live in another city, far away from you.

Do you agree with these statements on happiness? What is your definition of being happy?

~Jeff

Photo credit: Smiley, Wikipedia PD

Small animals have lived in cities for many years. They are so common that some people refer to (call) them as unnoticed neighbors because they aren’t aware of them (don’t know they’re there). New York’s Central Park is home to 300 species (kinds) of birds and many small mammals (animals that drink milk from their mother when they’re young). Boston’s Back Bay (protected part of the sea) was designed to create habitat (a home for animals) and attract animals that live in marshlands (ground that is always wet) to the city. As natural habitats shrink (get smaller) or disappear, manmade areas like these become more important. In many ways they are the best and safest kind of urban (city) habitat for animals that have no other place to go.

In other urban areas, chimneys (pipe for smoke), drainage ditches (system for moving unwanted water out of the city), and other structures (something that has been built) provide habitat for other animals. A drainage ditch just one block from where I live provides habitat for migrating (traveling) ducks and geese and a permanent home for a snowy egret.

But what happens when animals begin to leave the open areas in and around the cities and move into the inner city (downtown) or into neighborhoods where people live?

Often it’s okay. My wife works for a company that occupies a large, hilly park-like area. When she walks to her car after working in the evening, she is often serenaded (to serenade is to sing to someone) by the coyotes (photo above) who live in the area. During the day she may see a herd (group) of deer – as many as 20 – grazing on (eating) the grass as she drives from one place to another. This area is mostly surrounded (to be on every side) by houses, apartments, commercial buildings, and freeways, and the animals cause no problems.

Stan Gehrt, an animal researcher in Chicago, is impressed with the way some animals adapt to (become successful in) the urban environment. He tells of coyotes who wait until traffic clears (goes away) before running across the road. Sometimes they even stop on the median (area in between two sides of a road) and wait until the traffic moving the other direction clears before continuing across. One coyote in downtown Chicago seems to know when traffic lights are red or green. She waits until the cars stop before she runs across the road. She’s been doing that for more than three years and has never been hit by a car.

As cities grow and natural habitats shrink, Gehrt is worried that larger animals will come to town. And that’s happened here in southern California.

In the city of Glendale, a bear called Meatball made many visits to foothill (small hills below high mountains) neighborhoods. He ate from people’s trash containers and even got into an outdoor freezer (a place to keep frozen food) filled with frozen meatballs – that’s how he got his name! Officials tried twice (two times) to relocate (move) him deep into the Angeles National Forest, but he came back both times. He was finally taken to a wildlife sanctuary (safe place for animals) near San Diego.

The story doesn’t end there. A second bear has appeared in Glendale and made many visits during the last six months. On one visit he destroyed a group of bee hives (box where bees are kept) and ate much of the honey. Officials hope they can catch him soon and take him to the same wildlife sanctuary that Meatball lives in.

Have animals moved into the city where you live? What kind? Have they caused any problems?

~ Warren Ediger – English coach/tutor and creator of the Successful English website.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons