Season: SpringUnit Title: Food and CulturePossible sources of Integration: social studiesKey Words: Oral traditions, green washing, heritage foods, slow food, ark of taste

Link to Content Standards: SSHS-S5C5-02: Analyze how advertising influences consumer choices.

Brief Summary of Unit (including curriculum and unit goals): Food and culture are closed linked with one another. What we eat, how we prepare it, and who eats at the table reveal a lot about a family and culture at large. The goal of this unit is to encourage students to consider these connections and evaluate what food culture they would like to support. Students will investigate food advertising and create their own advertisement for a “green” product. They will also learn about the Slow Food movement, and recommend products to be nominated for the Ark of Taste, an effort of Slow Food to promote heritage foods.

What enduring understandings are desired?Students will understand:

Food and culture are closely linked and shape one another. Protecting and promoting Arizona’s heritage foods is an important way to protect

strong cultural traditions.

What essential questions will guide this unit and focus teaching and learning? What does our food traditions say about our culture? What are Arizona’s heritage foods? Why is it important to protect and promote these foods?

What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?

Students will know: Key terms: Oral traditions, green washing, heritage foods, slow food, ark of taste Oral traditions are an important method of communication and cultural stability. Promotion of Arizona heritage foods can stabilize cultural traditions.

Students will be able to: Nominate a product for Slow Food’s Ark of Taste.

What evidence will show that students understand?Performance Tasks (summarized)

Big Hungry Planet: Students will consider different food traditions throughout the world and consider what their own food habits say about their culture.

Food and Advertising: Students will research how advertising in the food industry has changed in the past 20 years, and create their own ad for a “green” product.

Arizona Heritage Foods: Students will learn about the Slow Food movement and Arizona’s heritage foods and nominate a product for the Ark of Taste.

Quizzes, Tests, Prompts, and Work Samples (summarized)

n/a

Unprompted Evidence (e.g., observations and dialogues)

Teacher observations of students during work on the performance tasks. Participation in class discussions and reflection questions.

Big Hungry PlanetObjective:

To be compare and contrast food across cultures 

Time: 45 minutes or homework assignment

Materials: Family Food pictures and questions

Directions:1. Hand out the family food pictures and questions. Ask students to observe,

compare and contrast and thoughtfully answer the questions.2. Discuss as a class.

Name:_____________________

Family Foods ExercisePlease reflect upon the pictures. What do you observe? Answer the following questions

thoroughly, thoughtfully and in complete sentences.

1. What do you observe? What do these meals say about a particular culture? What country do you think is most sustainable for the environment? Why? What country do you think creates communities and families? Why?

2. How does the US compare to other countries? Compare the levels of fruits and vegetables at the tables. Do we eat more or less healthy? What does the US table say about our culture?

3. Notice the levels of packaging at the different tables. How much time do you think a family in the US spends on preparing meals in comparison to other countries? What are the implications of this?

4. Where would you want to live based on the meals? Why?

5. What would your family’s meals look like? How does it compare to US and other countries? What would you change, if anything, about your table?

Japan: The Ukita family of Kodaira City Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25  

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11  

 

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $ 500.07

 

United States: The Revis family of North Carolina Food expenditure for one week: $ 341.98

 

Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

 Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27

 

Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53

 Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

 

Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $ 5.03

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

 

Food Stories

Objectives: To be introduce oral traditions To be creative and design stories for the garden crops.

 Time: 45 minutes or homework

Materials: Bruchac, Joseph. Native Plant Stories. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 1995. Dennee, Joanne. In the Three Sisters Garden: Native American stories and

seasonal activities for the curious child. Montpelier, VT: Food Works, 2001. DePaola, Tomie. The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush. New York, NY: G.P

Putman’s Son, 1988.

Directions:1. Read a story from one of the recommended books.2. Many cultures have their own oral traditions explaining how things came to exist

and why things happen the way they do, as the story just showed.3. Today, you are going to write your own food story. Pick a favorite fruit or

vegetable that grows in the garden and create a story about its origin. In keeping with oral tradition, you will read your story aloud to the class.

*This activity is adapted from Food Legends, an activity in the Seeds of Change curriculum created by the Smithsonian Institution’s Natural Partners Initiative.

Food and Advertising

Objectives: To examine the changes in food advertising throughout the past 20 years To create a advertisement for a “green” product

 Standards:

SSHS-S5C5-02: 

Time: Homework and 1 class

Materials: Magazines (National Geographic, Better Home and Gardens, ect) over a 20 year

period

Directions:Magazine Advertising:

1. For homework, each student should pick a magazine (National Geographic, Better Home and Gardens, ect) and examine the food advertisements over a 20 year period. Compare and contrast the ads and the changes in foodways over the course of those years.

2. Present to the class your findings through a power-point or poster.

Creating Your Own AD:1. What is “green washing”? This has become more common in recent advertising,

as products try to claim they are more “green” or sustainable than they actually are. Companies spend more money in advertising their “green” practices, than in actually following environmental sound practices. A common example is using pictures of forests or other pristine environments, coupled with language such as “green” or “natural”. These practices are common beyond advertising, for example the “Clear Skies Initiative” proposed in 2003 arguably weaken clean air initiatives.

2. Divide the class into small groups. Assign them a “green” product that they will have to design an ad for:

a. Solar Ovenb. Local, grass-fed beefc. Local, organic salsad. Flagstaff Farmers’ Market

3. Their ad should convince people that they should purchase this produce despite possible increased expense.

4. Present ads to the class and discuss.

Arizona Heritage Foods

Objectives: To identify Arizona’s heritage foods To discuss the slow food movement To nominate a food for the ark of taste

 Materials:

Nabhan, Gary, and Patty West and Rich Pirog. Linking Arizona’s Sense of Place to a Sense of Taste. Flagstaff, AZ: Northern Arizona University Center for Sustainable Environments, 1995.

Southwest Ark of Taste listing Ark of Taste nomination form:

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste/Directions:Arizona’s Distinctive Agricultural Landscape:

1. Read pages 10-11 of Linking Arizona’s Sense of Place to a Sense of Taste. 2. Discuss the importance cultural traditions have had in shaping our foodways.

What are the particular ancestries of the students in the class? What traditional foods do your families eat?

3. Next read pages 14-15. Review the trends of Arizona’s agriculture. Brainstorm what the class might do to reverse these trends and promote heritage foods.

Ark of Taste:1. Does anyone know what Slow Food means? Slow Food is an organization and

movement that works to preserve and promote regional and traditional foods. There website reads “Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.” This movement is in direct opposition to Fast Food which in contrast promotes cheap, global foods. Slow Food celebrates the farms, fields, flavors and friends that contribute to a meal. The movement was launched in Italy in 1986, as a response to the opening of a McDonalds in Rome, Italy. The movement is now international, with chapters in over 50 countries, including a chapter in Flagstaff.

2. One important goal of Slow Food is to promote endangered foods. The Ark of Taste is a catalogue of over 800 products that are threatened by industrial standardization. These products, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, cereals, cheeses, fish, game, poultry, livestock, beverages, honey, spices, syrups, and more are at risk biologically or as culinary traditions.

3. Today, each of you in going to nominate a food to be listed on the Ark of Taste. Hand out the listing of Ark of Taste products for the southwest. Also pass out the Arizona’s Heritage Foods listing, pages 16-20 of Linking Arizona’s Sense of Place to a Sense of Taste.

4. Hand out the Ark of Taste nomination form and examples of foods from pages 27-29 of Linking Arizona’s Sense of Place to a Sense of Taste. Students should

complete nomination form and draft their one-page summary similar to the examples.

5. Students will present their nominations next class.

Slow Food USA Ark of Tastewww.slowfoodusa.orgAs of December 2008

SOUTHWEST: AZ, NM, TX

BEVERAGESGreenthread Tea

GRAINS & CEREALSChapalote CornChicos

BREADPiki Bread

FRUITAmerican PersimmonAmerican PlumBlack Sphinx Date - AZChiltepin PepperGreen-striped CushawNew Mexican Native Chile - NMNew Mexico Native Tomatillo - NMNew Mexico Native Tomatillo - NMWenk’s Yellow Hot Pepper - NMYellow-Meated Watermelon

HERBS & SPICESDesert Oregano

MEAT & POULTRYAmerican Plains Bison - TXNavajo-Churro Sheep – NM

NUTSEmory Oak “Bellota” Acorns - TXShagbark Hickory Nut

BEANS, PEAS, &LENTILSBolita BeanBrown and White Tepary BeanChristmas Lima BeanFour Corners Gold Bean – AZ, NMHopi Mottle Lima BeansHutterite Soup Bean – NMMesquite Pod FlourO’odham Pink Bean – AZRio Zape Bean

VEGETABLESI’Itoi Onion – AZ

OTHERGuajillo Honey

NOMINATION FORM

The Slow Food Ark of Taste is a catalog of foods threatened by industrial standardization, the regulations of large-scale distribution, and environmental damage. The Ark seeks, first and foremost, to save an economic, social and cultural heritage—a universe of animal breeds, fruit and vegetables, cured meats, cheese, cereals, pastas, cakes and confectionery. Since the effort began in 1996, more than 800 products from over 50 countries have been added to the international Ark of Taste. Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste profiles over 200 of these rare regional foods, and is a resource for people across the country interested in sourcing and promoting them.

The program’s mission is to preserve endangered tastes and to celebrate them by making them available for people to enjoy. Slow Food members put on events featuring Ark products, expanding opportunities for media attention and increasing market awareness. In an effort to cultivate consumer demand—key to agricultural conservation—only the best tasting endangered foods make it onto the Ark.

Product Nomination Process To be considered, Ark nomination forms must include complete historical and cultural information about the food nominated, and a strong argument as to why the proposed food belongs on the Ark of Taste. Nominators must be prepared to submit samples of the nominated product, as taste is a key component of the evaluation. To qualify for the U.S. Ark of Taste, food products must be:

Outstanding in terms of taste—as defined in the context of local traditions and uses

At risk biologically or as culinary traditions Produced sustainably Culturally or historically linked to a specific region, locality, ethnicity or

traditional production practice Produced in limited quantities, by farms or by small-scale processing companies.

Complete forms should be emailed to arkusa@slowfoodusa.org with subject heading: “Ark Nomination” or mailed to Slow Food USA, Attn: Ark of Taste, 20 Jay Street, Suite M04, Brooklyn, NY 11201. To view sample nomination forms, contact Slow Food USA at 718-260-8000 or arkusa@slowfoodusa.org

Nomination Review Ark of Taste nominations are reviewed on an on-going basis by a committee of food lovers from around the country—including home cooks, gardeners, culinary instructors, grocers, chefs, food historians and market farmers. Ark Committee members hold three-year terms, during which they review nominations and champion U.S. food biodiversity by organizing events, leading Ark food restoration projects, and contributing to Slow Food USA publications and education material. Learn more about current Ark Committee members by visiting the Slow Food USA website. http://www.slowfoodusa.org

1. Name the food (supply scientific and common names when appropriate)

2. Description

3. Region of origin and primary area of historic and current production (if different, explain):

4. List the food’s producers – farmers, harvesters, artisans. Provide name and contact information for each.

5. When is this product in season / available for purchase?

6. Describe why you think this food should be on the US Ark of Taste. Address all of the following: taste quality | cultural/historical link to a region, locality, ethnicity or traditional production practice | sustainable production | level of endangerment | and production scale

7. If photos/illustrations are available, please submit and include photographers name. Please note if Slow Food has permission to reproduce image.

___ Yes, Slow Food has permission to reproduce photo in any educational or promotional material.

Photo credit should read: ________________________________

8. Bibliography

9. Nominator’s name and contact information:

Flagstaff Feast

Objective: To recognize that how we grow food is just as important as how eat food. To celebrate Flagstaff foods

 Standards:

n/a Materials:

Waters, Alice. “The Ethics of Eating,” in The Fatal Harvest Reader, edited by Andrew Kimbrell, 283-287. California: The Foundation for Deep Ecology, Island Press, 2002.

Local foods and dishes

Directions:1. Read Alice Waters’ essay as a class. Discuss as a class what the “ethics of

eating” means to them. Does your family sit down and eat together? On a daily basis or on special occasions? Do you eat special foods on special occasions? Do you have special traditions around food as a family? How might Waters’ suggestion to eat as a family influence our communities in sustainable ways?

2. Students should bring in a dish celebrating local and slow foods. Encourage them to bring in their food that they nominated for their ark of taste. If they cannot bring something local, ask them to prepare a dish that is important to their family.

3. Set a table and share the meal together!