Where is Home?

“Where is home? Maintaining one’s identity while culturally assimilating to a new country”

Friday, November 21^st, 7pm

Kimberly Carlisle’s home at 19 Broad Street in Belmont

Each year millions of people immigrate from all over the world to America in hopes of fulfilling their dreams. Immigration spurs a great deal of debate because of its economic, cultural, religious and political ramifications. In our discussion, we will focus on how families adopt to their new home while retaining their identity and cultural heritage. How do parents impart their traditions to their children who want to embrace the norms of their new home and “fit in”?  Are different immigration populations viewed and treated differently? How has globalization affected our views of immigrants? How have things changed from the generations that came over 40 to 50 years to today?

 

The Presenter:

Rushmie A. Kalke

 

Rushmie is a Principal of State Street Global Advisors and a Senior Financial Writer in the U.S. Institutional Marketing group.  Her responsibilities include developing thought leadership, sales/marketing materials, and marketing campaigns across multiple investment strategies.

 

Prior to joining SSgA in 2008, Rushmie served as Senior Account Executive and Senior Writer of Solomon McCown & Company, a strategic communications firm.  She is a former reporter with a background in covering business and economic issues, and has written for various publications including the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, The Boston Globe, The Eagle-Tribune and Boston Magazine. Rushmie also worked for Lee Munder Capital Group, a Boston-based investment management firm, where she wrote sales materials and helped manage the RFP process.

 

She holds a Masters of Science in Business/Economics Journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the College of the Holy Cross.

 

Life Was So Simple Until Now

We had a great meeting on Friday night at Lisa's home.   Many thanks to Becky and Alyson for their engaging, delicious and truly eye-opening presentation on knowing the food we eat.  Who knew that 20% of the "meat" in chicken nuggets is actually chicken skin? Or that extra-lean beef probably indicates meat taken from old/sick animals?  I've been meaning to read such books as Fast Food Nation,  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and The Omnivore's Dilemma for quite a while, but now I'm on my way to the library!  Becky and Alyson strongly encouraged us to make informed decisions about the food we eat--there is so much behind the scenes that we as consumers don't know.   They also explained that moving toward sustainable eating is a gradual process and advocated starting with small, simple changes that do not feel too overwhelming.

Here are a few of the tips they offered:

• Buy organic produce--especially the "Dirty Dozen":  peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes, pears, spinach & potatoes
• Buy organic whole milk dairy products
• Find a CSA (fresh, locally grown produce coop) at www.localharvest.org
• Limit sugar intake to 40g per day: avoid refined sugar and flour whenever possible.  
• Use extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil or  butter instead of vegetable oil, margarine or other highly processed butter/oil products
•  Replace processed foods with whole grains: you need 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day
  

Here are 12 Food Additives to Avoid:  I went home and checked my fridge and cupboards and couldn't believe how many of these additives I found!  See this slideshow for all the details.

• Sodium Nitrate: Sure enough, there in the Oscar Meyer turkey hotdogs that my kids love.
• BHA and BHT: Oh my, this was in my Orbit sugarless gum and the packaging in our MiniWheats.
• Propyl Gallate: Didn't see this one in my cupboards, but apparently found in meat, chicken base in soups and gum.
• MSG: Wow.  This was in my Campbell's soup, chicken bullion cubes and noodle mix.
• Trans-fats:  I have been avoiding these, but found some in the cake mix I bought for my husband's birthday.
• Aspartame: There it was in my Orbit sugarless gum--yikes!
• Acesulfame: Sure enough, Orbit sugarless gum is the culprit again.
• Food Coloring: Found this in the cake mix, sugarless gum and the Listerine (of all places!)
• Olestra
• Potassium Bromate
• White Sugar: There it is, 5 lb. package in my pantry.  Not to mention all that is in every other product out there.  
• Sodium Chloride

Be sure to see Alyson's great blog for great healthy/organic recipes, reviews of organic products and musings on living a more sustainable lifestyle.