Food, Inc

Food, Inc.

Chapter 1

Learning Goals

• By the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify new vocabulary terms relative to Food Inc, and literature in general.

• By the end of the lesson, students will comprehend major issues with today’s food industry

• Students will develop and support opinions that refer to necessary food knowledge.

Vocabulary

• Impoverished (page 7)- Reduced to poverty, living in poverty

• The impoverished family could not afford a place to live and food to eat.

Vocabulary

• Exploiting (page 8)- to use in an unfair or selfish way; to take advantage of someone

• The factories exploited the illegal immigrants by paying them less than minimum wage for demanding work.

Vocabulary

• Retrospect (page 10)- in consideration of the past or past events

• In retrospect, the food that we consume on a regular basis may have an effect on the growth and development of all individuals.

Vocabulary to Know- Literary

• NonFiction: writing that is based on facts• Food, Inc. is a work of nonfiction that looks at the harmful substances

consumed by Americans on a daily basis.


• Support: to uphold or defend as being correct; advocate

• The writer put in pictures of mistreated animals at meat farms to support his statement that fast food is not good for you.


• Evidence: information that proves or disproves an idea or concept

• The evidence of rBGH in dairy products makes Food, Inc. applicable to all students.


• Plain Folks Propaganda: the use of an everyday person or people to sell a product.

• Subway uses plain folks propaganda to help us see that anyone can lose weight like Jared if we eat their sandwiches.

• Think about the plain folks propaganda seen with the woman at the chicken house!

Lunch Survey (MY HOOK)

Think about what you had for lunch today (or yesterday!). Which of these factors influenced your choices?

• It was fast and easy.• It was what I usually eat.• It was nutritious.• It tasted good.• It was a good price.• It was in season.• My friends liked it.• I didn’t have any choice in what I ate.

Pre- Questions• If everyone is looking for similar things in

their food – for example, that food be cheap and easy to get – how will that affect what food is available?

• In what ways might it affect how food is grown and produced?

Pre-Questions

• Do you consider your food and what is in it before you consume it?

• What factors do you consider?

• Do you think this mindset should change?

Chapter 1 SummaryReforming Fast Food Nation

A Conversation with Eric Schlosser

• Schlosser is the writer of many award- winning books that reveal the hidden secrets in the food industry.

• Food Inc essentially started as an investigation into California's agriculture. It was meant to be an article for ‘Atlantic Monthly.’

• He wanted to look at the exploitation of migrant workers…

• However, it opened Schlosser’s eyes to the differences between what is seen in the supermarket vs. what you see in the fields.

• He was then asked to do another piece for Rolling Stone, which ultimately progressed into a book… Food Inc.

• Schlosser says that “although he called it “Fast Food Nation” it was really never about fast food. It was about this country- about what our food system reveals about our society.”

• Schlosser set out to expose hypocrisy and corruption, but most of all, just to simply understand the times we live in. AKA to understand our world!

• Workers were very eager to talk about the growing issues and problems, but companies were not!

Ten years….• Even after ten years, changes are still not

huge. There are things that have changed and certain stores that have become more prevalent- Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Trader Joe’s, etc- but this by no means fixes the issues that happen.

Shocking Facts• At the moment, about 2/3 of the adult

population in the US is overweight or obese… It is truly a recipe for public disaster.

Breaking the cycle…• Schlosser says that breaking the cycle starts at home and

talking about food as you eat/ cook.• It should then extend into public schools where children

learn about nutrition and the real value of what is in our school.

• Create health-care that CARES• Raise wages in the fields• Make healthy foods more readily available• Support family farmers• Remember it’s a huge task, and will take time and dedication!

Another TakeFood Safety Consequences of Factory Farms

• Many meat and dairy products come from factory farms.

• What is most disgusting is that the facilities cannot process all of the waste… so animals stand in it until it’s poured into pools and sprayed onto the land.

• This leads to serious health problems!

Animal Feed~ You are what you Eat… and what you eat eats.

• Factory farms have two goals– 1. Fat animals quickly– 2. Money

• Antibiotics: They feed their animals antibiotics because it makes them grow faster and prevents most diseases. But over time, bacteria becomes resistant and the dosage must become higher.

Do you want to be a mad cow??• Cows are sometimes fed the

‘discarded food.’ Which is the nasty leftover bits that people would never eat. – Roadkill, brains, spinal cords,

intestines, etc. • Consumers are unprotected because

testing has lessened and rules are vague and filled with loop holes.

• Cows can be fed poultry litter, blood, cattle protein, etc.

Promote that Growth… Hormones Baby!

• The Bovine Growth Hormone is created in a lab and is injected into cattle in order to make them grow faster and produce more milk.

• This hormone has been linked to colon cancer, breast cancer, twin births, and elevated insulin levels- which can cause diabetes.

Diseases…AND Contamination!

• Disease spreads so quickly in the dairy farms. There are just too many animals and too small a space.

• Many scientists even believe that the avian flu originated in a poultry factory.

Diseases…AND Contamination!

• Cows= urine and manure. • A dairy farm with 2,500 cows will produce as

much poop as a city of 411,000 people!!!!• The manure is washed out of the confinement

buildings, and into pools nearby.• The same pools are where growing cows drink

their water and bathe…

Animal Activists!

• These are not happy cows, pigs, or chickens….

Animal Activists! • Unhappy pigs are

confined in concrete pens, with no bedding, soil, or hay.

• They get so stressed and deprived, they will bite the tail off of other pigs.

• To prevent this behavior, factory farm operators cut the pigs tails off at a young age.

Animal Activists! • Unhappy chickens stand in

cages so tightly that each chicken gets the space of a size of notebook paper. They do not graze or peck at the ground because there is no room.

• Therefore, they peck at each other.

• Farmers cut off beaks… this is extremely painful for the chickens and lead to serious difficulties in eating! (as you saw in the movie!)

JUST SAY NO!!!!• Know where your meat comes

from!!!!!!• Check out restaurants or farms

that sell grass-fed beef and sustainably raised meat.

• Organic meat is also a good choice because they must meet different standards.

• Look at the milk labels to make sure they are rBHG free dairy products!

Your Responses – Answer in complete sentences on your notes page.

1. Comprehension: How did Schlosser’s research of the food industry come about?

2. Comprehension: What does it mean when they say: “In a way, we’re not producing chickens, we’re producing food.”

3. Comprehension: Even after 10 years, the changes are still mostly just…

4. Comprehension: What are the dangers of the meat we are eating now?

Your Responses – Answer in complete sentences on your notes page.

5. Critical Thinking Question: As consumers, do we have the right to know how the chickens we eat are being raised? Do we want to know? Explain your answer.

6. How do you think farm animals should be treated? Why should they be treated this way?

7.

8. Application~ As portrayed by the film, consumers wanting faster, cheaper food has altered the way chickens are raised.

Can you think of parallel situations where consumers wanted certain products or experiences, and industry responded to

meet the demand?

1. Comprehension: How did Schlosser’s research of the food industry come about?

• It started as an article to reveal the issues that migrant workers face, and where our strawberries really come from. It grew as more details and facts were revealed. It led to other articles and eventually Food Inc.

2. Comprehension: What does it mean when they say: “In a way, we’re not

producing chickens, we’re producing food.”

• It means that the companies aren’t worried about the qualities of animals, and the needs they have. All they are worried about is making food. It doesn’t matter how the animals are treated, because at the end of the day- they will be killed.

3. Comprehension: Even after 10 years, the changes are still mostly just…

• On the surface. There are nicer ‘organic’ and ‘free trade’ food stores, but they are just good on the outside. Everything else is still the same. It stays the same because we all cannot afford to eat organic and shop at places like whole foods!

4. Comprehension: What are the dangers of the meat we are eating now?

• They face multiple ways to be contaminated

• There are issues with the lack of humane treatment

• There are also a lot of antibiotics present in our foods

5. Critical Thinking Question: As consumers, do we have the right to know how the chickens we eat are being raised? Do we want to

know? Explain your answer.

• I believe that we should have the right to know and see the plants if we want.

• We should get the exact details of what the animals are fed, injected with, etc.

• Everything should furthermore be explained in easy-to-comprehend terms.

6. How do you think farm animals should be treated? Why should they be treated this way?

• I think they should be raised the way nature intended.

• They should have room to roam and grow, even if it takes longer.

• The should only be fed natural, nutritious items, and should not be mistreated- even though they will just be slaughtered.

• Happier animals just taste better ( :

1. What question did you guys get to demonstrate critical thinking????

8. Application~ As portrayed by the film, consumers wanting faster, cheaper food has altered the way chickens are raised. Can you think of parallel

situations where consumers wanted certain products or experiences, and industry responded to meet the demand?

• Clothing! We have a huge demand for clothing. In third world countries, people wear the same clothing until it is literally shred. In US clothing has become a symbol, but people don’t realize what the conditions are like… from cotton pickers, to those sewing the clothes.

Thinking About What You See• Propaganda is information, especially of a biased

or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

• There are seven techniques used by successful propagandists. These are – – Name calling – This is used to create fear and arouse

prejudice by using negative words to create an unfavorable opinion or hatred against a group, beliefs, ideas or institutions. This method calls for a conclusion without examining the evidence.

– Glittering generalities – This technique uses vague, sweeping statements using language associated with values and beliefs deeply held by an audience without providing supporting information or reason. They appeal to such notions as honor, glory, love of country, desire for peace, freedom, and family values.

– Transfer – a technique used

to carry over the authority

and approval of something

we respect and revere to

something the propagandist

would have us accept. They

often employ symbols to stir

our emotions and win our

approval.

• Testimonial – This technique is used to associate a respected person or someone with experience to endorse a product or cause by giving it their stamp of approval hoping that the intended audience will follow their example.

– Plain folks – This approach is used to convince the audience that the spokesperson is from humble origins, someone they can trust and who has their interests at heart. The speaker uses ordinary language and mannerisms to reach the audience and identify with their point of view.

– Card stacking – This technique is used to make the best case possible for one side and the worst case for the opposing viewpoint by carefully using only those facts that support his or her side of the argument while attempting to lead the audience into accepting the facts as a conclusion. In other words, the propagandist stacks the cards against the truth.

• Band wagon – This technique is used to persuade the audience to follow the crowd. This device creates the impression of widespread support. It reinforces the human desire to be on the winning side. It also plays on feelings of loneliness and isolation. The new twist to bandwagon propaganda is that now, the target audience is convinced that if they don’t jump on the bandwagon, they will be left out.

Documents

Food, Inc