Nutrition and Food

Title: Chew on This
Author: Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
ISBN: 979-0618593941
Suggested Courses: Nutrition and Foods: Course Standards: 2.0 & 4.0

Chew on This is an adaptation of Fast Food Nation for younger readers or for students that need lower readability. (The readability of this book is grades 6-9.) It includes passages from Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation and includes a history of fast food and food production in this country. This version might be appropriate for inclusive Nutrition and Foods and/or Culinary Arts I or II classes where students were identified as having a learning disability in reading comprehension.

Use the same activities for Fast Food Nation to support this book.

Other suggestions: After reading the either Fast Food Nation or Chew on This, the class could view the movie Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock. The fast food chain McDonald’s was involved in a law suit with two young girls. In the suit the plaintiffs stated that eating at McDonald’s caused them to be obese. In Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock conducts an experiment by consuming only food from McDonald’s for 30 days. The purpose of this experiment was to see what physical changes would occur by consuming only food at McDonald’s.

This documentary can be downloaded free from the following website http://freedocumentaryorg/film. The documentary is 100 minutes in length and it is not rated. However, the documentary does have two scenes which may be graphic for the viewer (gastric by pass surgery and Morgan vomiting after overeating).

After viewing the documentary and reading the book, the following activities could be completed as oral discussion or as written assignments.

1. List the various careers identified in the documentary.
2. Discuss the advice Morgan received from the professionals on maintaining adequate nutrition and health.
3. Describe the physical and psychological changes that Morgan experienced as her progress on the diet experiment.
4. Analyze the impact of fast food on young children.
5. Describe the impact of outsourcing food on the school lunch program.
6. Define nutrient dense foods.
7. Identify the impact of legislation and lobbying on the fast food industry.
8. Identify what changes need to be made to eat healthy at fast food restaurant.
9. Discuss the correlations between Schlosser’s concepts in the book, Fast Food Nation and the Morgan’s film Super Size Me.

*Fast Food Nation is available on film; however, it is rated R for language and graphic scenes.

Title: Fast Food Nation
Author: Eric Schlosser
Publisher: Perennial Harper Collins Publishing (2002)
ISBN: 0-06-093845-5
Suggested Courses: Nutrition Science: Course Standards 8.0 & 9.0 Culinary Arts I: Course Standards 2.0, 3.0, & 4.0 Culinary Arts II: Course Standards 1.0 & 2.0

Overview: This book was on the New York Times bestseller list for a number of months. The teacher can select to use the entire book as a semester project or focus on a few specific chapters. Eric Schlosser details the formation of the fast food industry from McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and other fast food establishments after WWII. The book describes how these establishments changed the American way of life by highlighting the economic and advertising strategies of the fast food industry. The obesity rate of the United States is linked to the high rate of consuming fast food. The book describes the meat packing industry and the occupational hazards involved in this industry. After reading this story the reader will understand the necessity of government regulation in food production.

Activities to support this book:

1. Define GRAS.
2. Identify the purpose of food additives and identify 10 on the GRAS list.
3. Define HCCAP
4. Research three USDA laws that have impacted the production of safe food (sanitation practices) in the United States.
5. Define OSHA
6. Research laws that have impacted occupational hazards in the food production industry
7. Research advertising with food service industry.
8. Research the menu at a fast food establishment, compare it to the food guide pyramid and write a reflection paper on how one can eat at fast food establishments and still follow the food guide pyramid.
9. Compare and contrast poultry and cattle production of the past to how it is done in today’s society.
10. Compare and contrast the Fast Food Nation to Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.

Title: Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
Author: Mary Pipher
Publisher: Ballantine Books, 1994
ISBN: 0345392825

Watch Mary Pipher, the author, on youtube.comv=ovrtjv28p58. In this video clip she discusses the reason for writing the book.

Review: Using case studies, the author touches on challenges girls face during the adolescent years. Mary Pipher shares her thinking with parents, educators, health and mental-health professionals, policymakers, and anyone whose lives involve teenage girls. “Many of us are doing things our mothers never dreamed of doing. But girls today are much more oppressed. They are coming of age in a more dangerous, sexualized and media-saturated culture. They face incredible pressures to be beautiful and sophisticated, which in junior high means using chemicals and being sexual. As they navigate a more dangerous world, girls are less protected.” This quote, taken from Reviving Ophelia, is an expression of describing how adolescent girls are living in a whole new world that is ever-changing.  One’s wholeness may become shattered by adolescence, and self-esteem, peer pressure, health issues, body growth and hormonal changes are the elements that make up the formula of this era.

Suggested Questions/Discussion Points:

1.  What factors do adolescent girls face in today’s society?
2.  What can families and professionals do to foster resiliency in adolescent girls?

Focus on case studies below.  Read the studies from the book either orally or assign portions as silent reading. Have students write thoughts and discuss thoughts in class.

SELF-ESTEEM – June
Self-esteem, the evaluative side of one’s self-concept, differentiates within the adolescent years. June’s story is one that is uncommon under the circumstances. Her mother’s death left her with a father who was ashamed of her size and appearance, and a step-mother who was too stingy to allow her to wash her hair but once a week. June was basically alone in her adolescent years: she walked to school, ate lunch, and worked on school projects by herself. She was rejected at home and at school. These situations would more often than not lead to low self-esteem. When asked how she managed to survive, it was the remembrance of her mother’s love and how she would have wanted her to behave. This story gives hope that people overcome issues of low self-esteem.

PEER PRESSURE – Polly
As a young child Polly was full of life, exuberant, tomboyish and adventurous. This is totally acceptable for a young girl to act this way at this age; however, when adolescence hits the frillier part of being a girl comes into play and peer pressure can take its toll. Polly was the Tom Sawyer of her peers, which was fine. Then, she started junior high and became confused and shaky because her previous behavior was no longer acceptable in the eyes of her “friends.” Instead of maintaining her true identity, she quieted down, and reentered as Becky Thatcher. Polly bowed to the pressure of her peers and suppressed her true self-being. Peer pressure is one of the most common issues adolescence.

HEALTH ISSUES & BODY GROWTH – Heidi 
Nutritional requirements increase as the body grows, and this increase comes when the diets are the poorest for many young people. Adolescents are likely to consume empty calories. Heidi is one teenage girl who has issues with her body image and suffers from bulimia nervosa. Heidi seems to be a perfectionist when it comes to her gymnastic abilities.  Her face glistens when she talks about the subject. However, her coach has weekly weigh-ins where team members count each other’s ribs, and if they are hard to count then the girl is in trouble. This action would lead one to try anything to perfect their body image, but now that Heidi is a bulimic, she will suffer from body growth issues as well.

HORMONAL CHANGES – Monica
All adolescent females encounter hormonal changes, which may cause confusion about self and acceptance of the physical changes of  the body.  Failure to know how to cope with all the alterations generally results in depression, which is what Monica is dealt. Monica’s mild case of depression has many manifestations. Some young women become sluggish, and apathetic, others angry and hate-filled. Monica has a high IQ, and describes herself as a “pimply whale.” Monica’s depression is categorized under peer-relation: failure to interact with her peers. She handled her depression through counseling and physical activity, which helped her have a healthier body and a more positive self-image.