Learning about Coffee from Starbucks

Starbucks produces their coffee that takes laborious time perfecting. During the process of perfecting their coffee that is sold, bought, and inspected by third parties before it even becomes close to being sold at Starbucks stores. Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.), are Starbucks' inspectors that review the quality of the coffee, the amount of money spent and sold throughout the process of retrieving the coffee beans, and the quality of the coffee beans. I wonder where all the coffee beans come from because Starbucks never states where exactly their coffee beans come from.

Smoke Signals

          Smoke Signals, illustrates the perspective of two young Native American boys on their way to seek one of the boys' deceased father. The journey of the two boys are long and brutal at times but also eye-opening and determined at other times. Throughout the movie, you realize that Victor is the son of the man who died and his friend traveling with him is Thomas. Thomas and Victor grew up together and Victors dad saved Thomas from a fire at his house that killed his parents. We end up learning more about the characters and their personalities as the story progresses and we are able to see their reasoning behind the choices they have made and the way their personalities are the way they are.

          Victor is a thick-skinned and tougher boy with a lot of self-loath and grudges. He is cold and ruthless just like the stereotypical Native Americans. He grew up with a father who drank too much and then left him just like the stereotypical Native American. The Native Americans were notorious for disappearing and they also have a high rate for alcoholism. Victor told Thomas at one point in the movie, that he had to have a tough look on his face and act tougher or else no one would respect or listen to him. While boarding back onto the bus, two older white men had taken their seats and refused to give them back. The men treated them with disrespect and treated Victor and Thomas as if they were not as important as they were. The idea of the stereotypical hierarchy where the white men are more important and higher up in society than Native Americans, is shown in this scene.

          Thomas is calming and known for his story telling. He told his stories constantly with a way that made the made up stories hard to differ from the real ones. His storytelling, that he embraced and found power in, was a stereotypical Native American trait. They were known for their amazing storytelling. Thomas told stories about love, power, and determination. Thomas always told stories that always made the main character in his stories look better and more dominant in comparison to the other characters in the story. During a scene in the movie, Thomas tells a story about Victor's mom feeding all the Indians at the feast with just a small amount of bread. He made her sound as if she was amazing and powerful but in reality she just broke the pieces apart. He tells this story to make Victor's mother sound amazing and powerful.

          Victor's dad was a drunk man who abused his family. He was full of regret and self-loath because he was the reason that Thomas' parents died. He regretted killing Thomas' parents that he became verbally and physically abusive towards his family and then ended up abandoning them. He fled his lifestyle due to his hatred and depression caused by his own mistakes. Victor's dad was ashamed of his old way of living and wanted a new start, just like how the white men wanted the Native Americans to have a "fresh start" by forcing them to abandon their Indian ways of life and convert to the normal American way of life.

          The movie, Smoke Signals, shows the journey through the lives of two boys and their journey to find one of their fathers. As the story progresses, your understanding of each character and their backgrounds begin to become clear.

Supply Chain Management

According to techtarget.com, supply chain management is the oversight of materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer

The Sioux Chef

Sean Sherman is an Oglala Lakota which derives from the knowledge of Ojibwe and Lakota tribes that foraged in the Midwest plains. He is opening a restaurant in Minnesota to bring the Native American culture to America by way of food. He uses very natural vegetables and herbs for his dishes. Sean Sherman uses dried vegetables like corn, rice, and dried as an idea to work off of for his meals. He studied in ethnobotany to try to comprehend the way plants were used for specific things in food.