Culture and Cuisine Essay

Food is one of many factors that distinguishes one culture from another. It has been used for ceremonial purposes, sacrificial rituals, and some food even holds symbolic meaning based on religion. Why do people of the Jewish and Islamic faith choose not to eat pork? Why is wine and alcohol often associated with parties and celebrations? The origin of many of today’s cuisine and dining traditions can be traced back thousands of years, and often have a religious significance. Religion has influenced people’s food choices and traditions since ancient times, and much of its impact is still prominent in today’s world. In everyday life, it is easy for anyone to take note of religion’s presence in food and different types of cuisine. In grocery stores and supermarkets, foods are often labeled as â€Å"Kosher† or â€Å"Halal†; and with holidays such as Lent and Ramadan, it is clear that many traditions that began thousands of years ago are still important to people in today’s society. The ban of pork products within the Jewish and Islamic faith, for example, dates back to ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians were known for having a strong dislike– perhaps even fear– of the pig. For this reason, pigs were never depicted in hieroglyphics, even though they were present. Believing that the animals carried parasites and leprosy, it was only Egyptians of the lowest social class who were swine herders, and they were banned from entering any temples or places of worship. Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat suggests that is why the pig has become a forbidden food source: That attitude could be at the root of the Jewish and Muslim prohibition of pig meat. Moses†¦ declared the animal unclean†¦ this taboo slowed down Islamic expansion into China, for the Chinese love pork as much as carp and ducks†¦ Today a certain amount of pig meant eaten in Europe, particularly ham, comes from China. (370) This shows how religion has influenced not only what a certain culture chooses to eat, but also how it has affected trade and migration patterns throughout the world’s development. It is clear that food can hold so much religious significance, that it can even prevent two cultures from integrating with each other, as shown by the lack of Islamic presence in China. With various religious beliefs, comes various opinions about certain foods. â€Å"†¦Patterns of behavior vary among followers of different religions, resulting from different norms† (Heiman, Just, McWilliams, and Zilberman). An example of clashing viewpoints is the difference between Greek, Muslim, and Chinese opinions about wine. The ancient Greeks are some of history’s greatest lovers of wine. They used wine for celebrations and believed it to be a drink of the gods as it was made by Dionysus, the god of wine. Alternatively, some Muslims forbade wine. This is most likely because of their fear of its effects, and drunkenness was looked down upon. There was, however, a Muslim mystic by the name of Nabulsi who declared that wine was the drink of divine love. Like Nabulsi, some chose to believe the Chinese proverb that states it is not wine that intoxicates– man is the one who becomes intoxicated, because he is weak (Toussaint-Samat 234). These different views of wine, or alcohol in general, is still evident today as some Muslims choose to drink it while some choose not to. In Christianity, wine is symbolic of the blood of Jesus, and holds significance particularly in the Catholic church for occasions such as communion. Symbolism, perhaps, is the most obvious connection between food and religion– it is not the food itself that is sacred or significant, but what it stands for. Michel Desjardins explores how food can be a symbol in different religions and cultures: At times, food also function symbolically– for example, when prayer before eating express thanks for divine concern, when the Passover meal commemorates mythic stories, or when the Arabic Muslim and Christian coffee ritual calls on the divine. Other times food is offered directly to deities†¦(153) Not only does religion affect what some people eat and do not eat, but also the types of meals that are made, the preparation, and the rituals that are paired with the food. Christian traditions involve praying before partaking in a meal, and Jewish customs call for elaborate feasts that are prepared by traditional methods. Another common use for food is sacrificing or offering certain foods to deities. Buddhists often present rice and or fruits to statues of Buddha– a long-standing religious tradition. Religion has greatly impacted the culinary world in the past, as well as today. The combination of religion and cuisine has proven to be deeply rooted in the history of mankind and the development of different cultures, as people all over the globe still maintain these traditions. Whether one is partaking in wine during communion, preparing Shabbat dinner, setting food before Buddha, or makes a lifelong decision not to eat pork, religion has an obvious presence in today’s society. Works Cited Desjardins, Michel. â€Å"Teaching about Religion with Food. † Teaching Theology and Religion. 3rd ed. Vol. 7. Oxford: Blackwell Ltd. , 2004. 153-58. Heiman, Amir, David Just, Bruce McWilliams, and David Zilberman. â€Å"Religion, Religiosity, Lifestyles and Food Consumption. † Ebscohost. Web. . Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. A History of Food. Paris: Wiley-Blackwell, 1992.

Making Good Choices

James Anderson Making good choices Making right choices is crucial for the direction that you want to go in in life, but sometimes it can be very hard to choose the right thing. Sometimes you do not make the right choice and there are consequences for those actions. Before you make a decision about doing something ask yourself a couple of questions. Would I tell my closest friend or relative about it? Will it have consequences? Will it cause harm? Think about what you are doing, before you do it. Whether it is about a relationship, personal issues with family, or even what you are going to have for lunch today.Do not do anything rash without thinking about the results, and planning how you will deal with the results. Some consequences can be severe, but sometimes it's worth it, that's what you have to decide for yourself. Avoid rash decisions. Don't do something out of feelings in the moment, take some time to be sure about what you want, and wait to calm down and relax before you ma ke the final decision and do something about it. It's a good idea to confide in someone and get some opinions on what you could do (ex. Your brother/sister, your bestfriend). Do not over-think everything.Don't get nervous at small things, that requires small decisions, that will not affect your life further. You should know what is important enough to be thinking well about it. Over-thinking everything can cause stress, which is very bad for you Trust yourself. Go with your gut, but always think any big and Hucrucial decision through. Have faith in yourself and in your instincts. After all, the only person you can trust to want the best for you is yourself. The choices we make throughout our lives determine our futures but the problem is, that we are not always wise enough now to make the choices we should for the people we want to become.When we are young and need to make important choices for our financial future, such as which subjects we should study and how to get good grades, we are not sufficiently wise to realise that a little pain now gives great gain in the future. We also want the pleasure that comes from eating forbidden fruit, from pigging out on confectionery or trying the adult pleasures that can ruin our health for life. We see adults smoking or consuming alcohol and saying that they enjoy it or get pleasure from it or need it to overcome the stress of the day.We are not wise enough to know that what adults say gives them pleasure also causes future ill health problems or that advertising is not reminding us to make healthy choices but trying to put money in other people's pockets. When we become adults, we will know what choices we should have made and will wish that we had made them long ago, when we were young. But the only way in which we will then be able to make good choices, will be to help and educate our own children to make the choices that we wish we had made when we were their age. Why good choices? Why not?Haven’t you ever h eard that if you’re going to do something, you might as well do it right? Well, it’s the same thing with choices. We’re not talking about preparing a meal or making a dress. This is your LIFE! You have the right to make your own choices, but you don’t have the right to choose the consequences. You may decide to stick your hand in the fire, but you’re probably going to get burned. We’ve all had the opportunity to make choices. Some of them were not so good. We’ve allowed other people to influence our lives, and sometimes what seemed like a good idea in the moment, turned out to be a huge mistake.As a teenager did you ever borrow the family car without permission? What did your parents do? They probably took the keys away from you and sent you to your room. Maybe you were grounded. Maybe that meant missing the prom or something else that was important to you. If so, you probably learned a lesson that has stuck with you. Other choices tu rn out to be much more serious. In fact, they may be serious enough that they will affect you for the rest of your life. What if you’re that teenager who borrowed the family car and wrecked it? Were you drinking? Texting? Talking on the phone?Just simply not paying attention? Was anyone else harmed, or even killed? If so, then that changes everything. Instead of being sent to your room, you were judged according to the laws of the land. You were probably taken to jail, and maybe even sent to prison, but even that won’t take away the consequences of knowing you injured or ended a life. People get married without a guide book and children don’t come with directions. Parents do the best they can but sometimes they just don’t provide the guidance a child needs. It’s not generally that they’re bad people.It’s just that they really just don’t know what a particular child needs. Sometimes parents have enough problems of their own and just simply don’t have what it takes to be good role models. As an example, I had parents who were good people. Charming, attractive, full of charisma. My birth was the event of the century for our family. I was the first child, and the first grandchild for my father’s parents. I remember everyone thinking I was pretty wonderful. When I look back at this time in my early childhood, I seem to settle on the happiness and security I felt at about age three.After that, things started going haywire. Alcohol played a huge part in the unhappiness of my parents and they decided they just couldn’t stay married. They still loved each other, but pride had gotten in the way and neither of them were willing (or able) to make the necessary changes to keep us all together. By the time I was seven, my parents officially divorced, and my sister and I, along with our father, went to live with our paternal grandparents. Thank goodness for grandparents who are willing to step in wh en there is a need. They became the parents to all three of us! Life was good with our grandparents.In fact, I’m sure my sister would agree that the three years with them were the most secure years of our childhood. At the end of those three years, our father remarried and expected a new â€Å"mother† to raise us. Our own mother had moved away, believing that we would be better off without her. Had she asked me what I thought about that, I would have begged her to stay. Things weren’t better without her. This new woman we now lived with didn’t want to raise someone else’s children and she made that pretty clear. For me, reading was a way to escape. I was a good student and didn’t do anything to cause problems.Being the peacemaker, I smiled on the outside, but inside, I was terribly unhappy. I dreamed about running away and never coming back. When I was seventeen, that’s just what I did. I got married, graduated from high school, and h ad my first baby in the same year. Did I know what I was doing? Heck no! Do I wish I’d have made better choices? Absolutely! That marriage was short-lived and only added to my trials. Not only do I have regrets, but I’ve also suffered with the â€Å"what might have been. † The best thing about it is the daughter who came from it all. She was always my strength and my reason for living.The worst thing is what I went through to get to where I am today. On the outside, I look like a pretty normal person. There are scars on the inside but they’re barely visible anymore. They say time heals all wounds, but without love and forgiveness, they will just continue to fester and bleed. You can apply bandages but until you heal the wound from the inside, it will only continue to cause pain. A few things have helped me on my road to freedom. 1. Good friends. If you only have one person you can count on in life, consider yourself blessed. Two childhood friends appeared when I needed them most and I credit them ith my ability to live through the worst time of my life. 2. Learning the meaning of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life. He suffered not only for my sins (and my lack of good choices) but He also suffered my pain. Too many times I think we think only of the crucifixion and not the precious gift He offered in the Garden of Gesthemane. When times get hard, I realize that He truly understands my pain because He has suffered it not only for all mankind, but just for ME. 3. Making the decision to forgive. I haven’t forgotten, but I have forgiven. The memories help me remember how important it is to make the right choices in life.If I didn’t have them, what would stop me from continuing to make them? Forgiveness helps remove the pain. It’s part of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He forgave. If I am unwilling to forgive those who have hurt me, then I am bringing my own condemnation. Christ will be the one, in the end, to judge. 3. Journaling. Early on, I knew I had to write my story. The process of recording it had a few benefits. Therapy for me. A record for mchildren It’s the story of a young girl with a good heart who got sucked into a life that forced her to grow up faster than she wanted.She learned she couldn’t trust the people who were supposed to love her. You just have to read it to learn more about her and determine for yourself whether or not she succeeded. I don’t know what lead you to this website, but I do know that everyone on this beautiful planet we call Mother Earth has made some choices they regret. You don’t have to live with a life of pain. The past does not determine who you are today. When you make good choices and decisions, you reap the rewards. When you make poor choices and decisions, you suffer the consequences. In high school, you have more freedom and more independence than you’ve ever had before.Of course, with this greater freedom an d independence comes greater responsibility. Learning to accept responsibility for your actions and for the choices that you make is an important part of growing up. You will have many decisions to make in high school. It is therefore important that you have good decisions-making skills. Try following these steps whenever you have a decision to make: -determine your options write down the positive and negative aspects of each option make sure that you have all the information you need to make an informed decision carefully consider the positive and negative aspects of each option make your decionRemember that whatever you do, it's not the end of the world, there's always a solution for everything. Make your own decisions, it's okay to know someone's opinion, but the decision is yours to make. Always consider the good things and the bad things about your decision, and the results of it. It's natural to take the wrong decision sometimes. We learn from our mistakes, don't get too upset about it.

Learning Natural Resources and Energy Essay

A Paper on the Ecosystem and on the Biodiversity General Questions – General General Questions Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper on natural resources and energy. Include the following:  · Choose a specific ecosystem, such as a forest, a grassland, or a marine or freshwater aquatic ecosystem.  · Identify and discuss the effects that a growing human population may have on that ecosystem’s resources, including loss or harm to populations of wild species.  · Discuss one management practice for sustainability and conservation of natural resources in that ecosystem.  · Identify the risks and benefits of extracting or using one type of nonrenewable and one type of renewable energy resource from that ecosystem, or in areas near that ecosystem. Include at least two outside references. Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. You can have a ton of fun in college, but it also involves a lot of work. Stay focused on the end result: a diploma. There will be many roadblocks along the way, and how you choose to approach them is important. Use the tips you have seen here to make college work on your behalf. This pack of SCI 256 Week 3 Learning Natural Resources and Energy Paper  contains: A Paper on the Ecosystem and on the Biodiversity General Questions – General General Questions Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper on natural resources and energy. Include the following:  · Choose a specific ecosystem, such as a forest, a grassland, or a marine or freshwater aquatic ecosystem.  · Identify and discuss the effects that a growing human population may have on that ecosystem’s resources, including loss or harm to populations of wild species.  · Discuss one management practice for†¦ To download this tutorial follow the link – https://bitly.com/1oJKyIe You can have a ton of fun in college, but it also involves a lot of work. Stay focused on the end result: a diploma. There will be many roadblocks along the way, and how you choose to approach them is important. Use the tips you have seen here to make college work on your behalf. General Questions – General General Questions Write a 1,400- to 1,750-word paper on natural resources and energy. Include the following:  · Choose a specific ecosystem, such as a forest, a grassland, or a marine or freshwater aquatic ecosystem.  · Identify and discuss the effects that a growing human population may have on that ecosystem’s resources, including loss or harm to populations of wild species.  · Discuss one management practice for sustainability and conservation of natural resources in that ecosystem.  · Identify the risks and benefits of extracting or using one type of nonrenewable and one type of renewable energy resource from that ecosystem, or in areas near that ecosystem. Include at least two outside references. Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines.

Ketchum Corp case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ketchum Corp case - Essay Example This term is knowledge generation. In this way the company is working at innovating processes related to the way that employees interact with the information intranet system in order to generate knowledge. Ketchum used a number of motivational tools to promote the intranet system throughout the company. One of these motivational tools was including employee’s sharing practices into job assessments. Another motivational tool that was implemented was employee raffles. Newsletters also recognized employee contributions, and even included a document of the month section. The specific system that has been established in the Ketchum case study is an expert system. An expert system refers to a system where human knowledge is embedded in a technological process. In this way the employee’s knowledge, including their autobiographies, constitutes a sort of expert system. The main focus that Ketchum attempts to achieve in its KM initiative is the notion of knowledge sharing. Knowledge sharing in this model functions for a variety of purposes. In addition to sharing knowledge internally, it aids the organization by limiting employee turnover and maximizing intellectual

Corporate Governance Implications of Financial Fraud Dissertation

Corporate Governance Implications of Financial Fraud - Dissertation Example Student’s family name: First names: Student ID No: Course: Supervisor: Dissertation Title: Corporate Governance Implications of Financial Fraud Declaration I certify that this dissertation is my own work. I have read the University regulations concerning plagiarism. I am willing to allow the university to use my dissertation as a sample for future students. Financial statement fraud and Ponzi schemes involving Board Chairpersons and senior figures in public companies wasted billions of dollars of investor capital to threaten markets and public interest. These scandals forced legislatures and regulators to question whether inadequacies in corporate governance contributed to a higher propensity for fraud and how best to correct these. Although it is true that corporate governance alone is not the only reason for financial statement fraud, it makes sense to try to encourage boards to discharge their responsibilities with due and diligent care. Because a corrupt board will propaga te fraud, it makes sense to emphasize the independence of boards from management and independence of individual directors to ensure effective boards. Only independent boards capable of exercising due diligence without negative influences exerted on audit committees, and auditors can ensure transparency and a commitment to ethical conduct must come from the top. For this dissertation, a literature review and case studies for selected early 21st-century fraud scandals serve to conceptualize corporate governance implications of financial fraud using inductive research. However, the research presented avoids a more extensive study involving examination of a far larger number of fraud cases from fraud databases using statistical methods in an attempt to lean towards conceptual development. (This page intentionally left blank) CHAPTER 1:   The corporate scandals of the early 21st century shocked the financial community around the world to present an impetuous for government regulatory a ction to try to correct the prevailing laxity in safeguards against corporate fraud (Causseaux, 2007, pp. 151 – 152). In the United States of America, scandals surrounding Enron, WorldCom, Aldephi, and HealthSouth were a topic of discussion for many even though financial fraud was to continue to prevail in many other parts of the world.  

Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5

Business - Essay Example In simple terms, diversity can be viewed as difference. In the workplace, diversity is defined by Bell (2007) as attracting, recruiting and retaining persons from a wide talent base regardless of their religious affiliation, race, class, gender, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status and any other groupings. This ensures the organizations recruits individuals with a wide range of skills and from different economic, social and cultural backgrounds. There are often group conflicts in organizations that hinder a good working relationship and attainment of company objectives yet diversity is highly valued in organizations. The big question is, â€Å"how can diversity work for organizations?† To answer this question, this paper will compare and contrast various views from different authors regarding diversity in the workplace. The trends that have necessitated diversity will also be discussed. It will also evaluate the diversity in practice i n two organizations: HSBC and Wells Fargo. It will discuss the importance of diversity in the two companies. Some companies develop a diverse workforce to comply with laws but for other organizations, diversity is much more than just a policy as it is the key to success. Besides compliance, companies that have an inclusive workplace environment enjoy a lot of benefits which will be discussed later. The challenges facing implementation are also worth noting. Global Trends Various global demographic, economic and legislative trends have over the years necessitated the development of diversity in workplaces. According to Mor Barak (2011) there has been a workforce decline in various countries thus the need to engage immigrant workers to fill the employment gap. Italy workforce for example, is expected to decline from 60 million to 56 million by 2050 while that of Germany is expected to decline from 82 million to 69 million (P. 4). These are countries which have been known not to entert ain immigrant workers but the demographic trend forces them to. On the other hand, developing countries are faced with the problem of the youth who comprise more than half of the population (Kirton & Green, 2004). Since these economies are growing at a slow pace they cannot accommodate all those youths hence they look for jobs outside borders. Another trend is the growing number of women in the workforce and individualized migration to look for better opportunities without relying on their husbands or family (Bibard, 2011). This has changed the workforce dynamics to a great extent prompting the need to embrace diversity. Various legislations have also been emerging that press the companies to become diverse workplaces. These range from the universal declaration of human rights to the legislations on equal employment opportunity. Inclusive workplace programs have therefore, been instituted in many organizations to tap the benefits of a diverse workforce (Findler, Wind & Mor Barak, 20 07). Companies which do not know how to manage diversity in the workplace risk losing business due to high turnover, absenteeism, and low earnings. Managing diversity is not a simple task. On one hand companies need to appreciate the importance of diversity for organization success and on the other hand, diversity brings about group conflicts which can lead to disharmony and even violence in the workplace (Powell, 2004). Service companies rely so much on diverse customers thus needs to

Life Changing Sport Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Life Changing Sport - Assignment Example The more upmarket All Star Lanes opened in January, 2006 in the basement of Victoria House in Southampton Row offering bowling alongside a cocktail bar and restaurant (Sunday Times 05.03.06). The sport of bowling (also known as tenpins) is an indoor sport in which a ball between 6 and 16 lbs. in weight is rolled down a lane approximately 42 inches wide and 60 feet long in an effort to knock down 10 pins set in a triangular array at the other end of the lane. The modern version of the sport is traced to the 4th or 5th century A.D. in Germany, where the bowler rolled a ball down the aisle of a church at a club called the heathen. Hitting the heathen was a demonstration of the religious faith of the bowler. During the Middle-Ages, there were a variety of forms of bowling with the number of pins ranging from 3 to 15. Dutch settlers brought the sport to the New World in the early 17th century. The tenth pin was added to the game in 1842. With the advent of Television the popularity of bowling increased in the 1950s. The sport has lost much of its charm and with the mushrooming video-game parlours and other 'pop' activities attention of the young people has been diverted away from bowling. It is considered by many as either pass or too childish, or youth-orientated. The opening of the two new, high-end, bowling alleys is perhaps indicative of a revival of interest in the game. Marketing is the business function that identifies customer needs and wants, determines which target markets the organization can serve best, and designs appropriate products, services, and programs to serve these markets. It guides the entire organization. The goal of marketing is to create customer satisfaction by building value-based relationships with customers, in conjunction with other internal and external business units. The end-result is gaining market leadership by understanding consumer needs and finding solutions of superior value, quality, and service. This presentation looks at understanding the concept, product, positioning and marketing strategy of one of the new bowling alleys (All Star Lanes), and identifying a path for repositioning and promotion with a view to improve profitability through improved customer satisfaction. The Present Product All Star Lanes has four lanes and two upstairs and is positioned as a leisure centre with multiple activities that includes offering a good eating facility and an ambience modelled on America of the 1950s. The face it presents to its customers is 'fresh and flippant and not too straight faced' (squaremeal.co.uk).It has a capacity to seat 80 and offers a cocktail bar and a menu that is American chow wagon based. The dcor is plastic, chrome and leather and tailored to attract young people and at the same time targets to attract clientele by offering a boutique type experience for parties. On all the present identified objectives, it scores well and has attracted very good ratings from critics; some even giving it a four to five star rating on ambience, service, value for money, and food (Time Out, 2006). Repositioning The proposed repositioning requires a total change in concept from being a leisure centre targeting young