Introduction

Hey all,

        It's me, Brae. 

Although you may know me as that pink haired girl (yes, it's natural) that you see around the college. 

Figure A. Hey It's Me. Copyright B. MacDonald

Part 1:

          This is my first year back at school after many years of being in the work force.

It's amazing how quickly working in an office can get you down. After many soul-sucking years, a mental breakdown and a mental illness identification, I decided that it was time to step away from a career that I hated and go back to school.

Figure B. I'm A Chef Now. Copyright B. MacDonald

        I've always loved baking. I grew up in the kitchen with my mother and grandmother, teaching me to sprinkle love into everything that I make. When I got older, I realized that baking helped quell the panic and anxiety that was coursing through my system at all times. Everywhere I went, baked goods followed and the people in my life cooed that I should one day open my own bakery.

My own bakery.... Brae's Bakery.... The Braekery!

Figure C. The Braekery Logo. Copyright B. MacDonald

       The idea rattled around in my head until it took seed and bloomed into something that I couldn't ignore. That was when I applied to George Brown for the Baking and Pastry Arts Management Program. My goal is to one day open The Braekery, but I know that it will take time and money that I don't have at the moment. I'm hoping to gain experience in the industry and learn as much as I can about both baking and business. Perhaps in five years, I'll be well on my way.

       I have a mistrust of people who claim to be experts in nutrition, due to fraudulent people and circumstances that have occurred in my life. This is why credentials are so important to me when taking advice about nutrition from anyone.  I look at both qualifications and titles, as well as membership to Royal Colleges before deciding who to listen to.

       As a student of food, I enjoy finding a balance between delicious and nutritious. I try to eat healthy while not giving up on the flavors that I love. I am hoping that through this course, I will gain a better understanding of what my body needs so that I can continue to tweak my diet to better suit my needs.

       I believe that nutrition will always play an important part of the culinary industry, as people become more immersed in their own health and longevity. But because of this, there will always be a demand for indulgences. We can eat as healthy as we want to, but sometimes it's nice to have food for the soul. And that is where I believe that baking and pastry will always play its role. 

Figure D. Food Geometry. Adapted from Mr. Lovenstein, by Creator J. L. Westover, Mr. Lovenstein. Retrieved on February 13, 2018 from http://www.mrlovenstein.com/comic/492. Copyright © 2010-2017 J. L. Westover.

Part 2:

       For the Compare and Contrast portion of this blog post, I decided to take a look at EatRight Ontario and Eat Yourself Skinny, focusing on title, credentials and personal focus.

       EatRight Ontario is my credible website choice. I felt good about looking at this website. Right off the bat, the title, EatRight Ontario, lets me know that the main focus of it is individual health and helping you choose what foods are best for your body. The fact that it is also focusing on Ontario makes it feel even more personalized as you take into account, weather (lack of vitamin D in wintry months) and other area trends.

       Credentials also play a large part in this organization. Being naturally suspicious of sites like these, I was immediately put at easy by their "About Us" page, stating that they were all registered professionals that were up to date with all of their information.

I also love that they have quelled any lingering doubt with with a handy guide to the differences between a Registered Dietitian and a nutritionist, complete with warning.

Figure E. Text from Website. Adapted from EatRight Ontario. Retrieved on February 13, 2018 from http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Nutrition-Month/What-is-a-Registered-Dietitian.aspx. Copyright © Dietitians of Canada 2018

       Their personal focus is on healthy eating and helping each individual person find what is right for them. You can contact a Registered Dietitain by phone or email for free and get personal advice on how you can change your eating habits to better suit you. This can including asking questions about new diet trends, changing diets due to health conditions or even just trying to be healthier. They can help you plan out meals depending on your time, money and skill set in the kitchen. They are culturally sensitive and have speakers in over 100 different languages to better suit your needs.

Because this is funded by the Government of Canada, this service is free for everyone in Ontario to use. This, again, shows that they are focused on health and not on selling a product. (EatRight Ontario, 2018)

       In comparison to my credible source above, Eat Yourself Skinny, doesn't hold up very well.

The title of this blog immediately tells you that their focus is not about health, it's about being skinny, perhaps in a healthy way, but still about losing weight.

The author of the blog has no credentials as a Registered Dietitian, but doesn't hide behind the moniker of nutritionist either. For that I will give her a little bit of credit for not pretending to be something that she is not. She just likes to create recipes, and I can't fault her for that. What I can fault her for is categorizing those recipes by diet type. Without the credentials, I do not believe that she is fit to create a meal with all the health connotations of a specific diet plan, be it paleo or Weight Watchers.

       While being healthy is a great personal goal, she subscribes to some health practices that I don't agree with, including clean eating. Just because you can't pronounce something on the label doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad for you. I encourage reading up on these items instead of dismissing them out of hand. Make healthy choices, not uninformed ones.

Also this website is highly monetized. With sponsored posts, brand ambassador programs, giveaway partnerships and advertisement, it's hard to know that she is giving us the best information or whether she is being paid to give it. I'm not saying that she shouldn't be able to make money from it, I just wish she had the education to back up her claims of healthy eating. (Kelly, 2018)

       In the end, I am much more likely to reach out to EatRight Canada for healthy eating tips than I am to go back to Eat Yourself Skinny.

Biblography

EatRight Ontario. (2018). Retrieved on February 14, 2018, from     
       http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/default.aspx

Kelly (2018). Eat Yourself Skinny. Retrieved from http://www.eatyourselfskinny.com