One of my favorite lessons has been on Food Deserts, which is a place where it is difficult to find affordable nutritious foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. This is actually a huge problem in the United States, and something that Michelle Obama has been particularly focused on. Food Deserts exist in both urban and rural communities, and are in important contributor to obesity problems.I love this lesson because it challenges students to think in ways they may not have before. For instance, the United States is incomprehensibly large to a lot my students. Texas alone is bigger than France and Alaska is about 3x its size. When we talk about how some people have to travel 30 miles (50km) to a grocery store, it's absurd to them. If that were the case here, the closest grocery store would be in Geneva.
It also gets them thinking about poverty. The United States is seen as a money hungry country where most people are wealthy. The reality is that wealth is concentrated heavily in the top 1-5% of the nation's richest (as the graph shows, not even most Americans know how large the gap is). This lesson has the intention of making kids aware of how deep America's poverty problem runs and how that, in turn, affects so much else (money to afford food, transportation to access food, obesity and therefore healthcare costs, etc.).
At the end of the lesson, I ask what are the most important factors are for why people don't eat well. The top answers have been as follows:
Poverty: Eating costs money. Eating well costs even more money.
Accessibility: If you have money (or food stamps from the government), the question becomes, what do I have access to?
Knowledge: Okay, I have money and access. How do I know what I should eat? Do I know how to cook healthily? Did my family teach me that or did I learn it in school?
Culture: I've got money, access, and knowledge. Do I have time? In America, maybe not. The culture always seems pressed for time. This is instilled in children very young, when you only have 20-30 minutes for a lunch wave.
Preference and Habit: You just like the taste and you don't want to change your habits
Tradition: Your subculture has certain cooking traditions that may be unhealthy
As I'm always interested in getting feedback, I'd really love to get your thoughts on this. Have you heard about food deserts? How big of a problem do you think they are? Is there something else I could have added to make this lesson better? Post comments!
Really interesting lesson, Amanda! I had just seen this article : http://redtape.msnbc.com/2011/03/another-nail-in-the-coffin-of-price-tags.html
ReplyDeletewhich describes one woman's efforts in Detroit to have price labels remain on the food.
I don't know much about other countries, but I do know how awful it is for inner city people here to try to buy groceries. Do you remember in Waterford at the Stop and Shop, seeing taxis pull up and 2-3 people getting out to do their grocery shopping? People in inner cities, in general, are screwed in the United States because of the unavailability and overpricing that goes on in cities.
There is a big controversy going on right now as to whether a Walmart can build and open a store in New York City. Walmart does have this much going in its favor: it works with local farmers and tries to offer decent food at affordable prices.
every time i read the title of this entry i keep thinking it says, 'food dessert.' fatty mcbutter in the house. :)
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