Newspaper+Articles

="What the World Eats" {from //Time//} =

**DESCRIPTION**: This photojournalism slideshow illustrates what families around the world eat in one week. Each picture shows the family members surrounded by all the food they would use in a typical seven-day period, with a caption indicating its cost in local currency and the U.S. dollar equivalent. The differences are fascinating. Well worth a look.

**SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT USE:** Have students examine the pictures and captions in pairs. Ask them to choose five different countries (preferably from very different areas of the world) and make notes about their observations of each. Then, have them analyze the similarities and differences. Potential discussion questions --

//What countries spend the most/least money on food? What kinds of food are they buying? // //What might these pictures say about each country overall? Can you draw any conclusions based upon your observations? // //Do you think the picture of the U.S. family's food is an accurate depiction of the average U.S. family's food? Why or why not? // //Which countries show the most industrialized, processed food? Why do you think that is? //

**NOTE:** This activity might be combined with a similar photojournalist article from Foreign Policy, called "How Food Explains the World"

=**"Pearls Before Breakfast" {from //The Washington Post//}** =

**DESCRIPTION****:** World-famous violinist Joshua Bell, in conjunction with writers from //The Washington Post//, conducted an interesting social experiment during rush hour one morning. He dressed as a casual street musician in jeans and a baseball cap and stationed himself near a busy metro station wall. Three days earlier, he had played in Boston where tickets to hear him play averaged $100 each. Free concert? Yes, please!

But would people recognize him? Upon hearing the beautiful music fill the metro station would they stop and listen to this gift? Or would they go on their way without giving Bell a second glance?

A hidden camera captured the results. Shockingly, **very** few people stopped to listen or even turned their heads in his direction. Watch a brief video below:

media type="youtube" key="hnOPu0_YWhw" height="390" width="480"

**SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT USE****:**

First ask students to write a brief journal entry in response to the following topic --

//Reflect for a moment on your average routine before school in the morning. Describe it. Now think specifically about the past 3 - 5 mornings. What details do you recall? What did you notice this morning, for instance?//

Now have students read the "Pearls Before Breakfast" article and view either the video clip above or one of the clips embedded in the actual article. Write another journal in response to these questions (or perhaps just have a class discussion) --

//Why do you think no one stopped? Would you have stopped? Have we, as a society, gotten so busy that we cannot pause for even five minutes in our day to appreciate beauty? Does it matter? How does this busyness relate to being a "fast food culture?" Is it positive or negative? Explain. What do you think about the comment that more people might have watched in Europe, or in Brazil? Accurate or not? Again, explain your thinking.//

="Unhappy Meals" {from //The New York Times//} =


 * DESCRIPTION:**

Pollan expands upon his motto - **"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."** Good advice, right? Of course, the food industry has made it immensely more complex for the 'average Joe' to navigate grocery store aisles. (Pollan's solution? Get out of the store!) In many ways, this article encapsulates all the main ideas of his book //**In Defense of Food**//**,** so though long, it's a great introduction into other issues surrounding our food culture.


 * SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT USE:**

This article expands our "fast food culture" to include all processed food, arguing that it's not JUST McDonald's that is contributing to our nation's health issues. But can students tell the difference between processed foods and whole foods?

Ask them to bring in the box or nutrition label of a food they eat regularly - anything from whole wheat bread to chips to goldfish to ice cream. Then, following Pollan's recommendations at the end of the article (after the section "Beyond Nutritionism"), ask them to rank the food on a continuum from processed to whole. Do they KNOW what they are eating?

This activity could be done on the bulletin board or other large area of a classroom wall; each student could post his nutrition label along the continuum. Have a class discussion about the results - //where are most of the foods? Was that what you would expect? Why? What does this indicate about our nation's health?//