This idea of processed foods fascinates me: manufacturers are always trying to tweak food so that it is more appealing visually, lasts a looooooooong time on the shelf in the grocery store, and tastes better by appealing to our cravings for salt, sugar and fat. With science, food continues to be chemically and scientifically developed, shaped, grown, and modified in every way imaginable. To say the food our grandparents ate is not the food we eat today, is an understatement.
In past years I have used Steve Ettlinger's Twinkie Deconstructed in my American Studies course, Food in America. In his book, Ettlinger literally deconstructs the Twinkie by listing and analyzing every ingredient in America's beloved snack cake. He focuses on each of the 37 ingredients - many of them are chemical substitutions for real, whole foods.
A mini-project that I created to accompany this book involves each student reading one or two chapters (each chapter highlights a particular ingredient in the Twinkie), research it further, and then present their findings to the class. It is always shocking to learn about how many non-food products are in a Twinkie; not unlike much of other processed foods we eat. As the students work their way through the 37 ingredients, everyone is shocked at this realization.
I always look forward to end class when I offer Twinkies that I brought in to share with my students; I have had few takers over the years.
Monica, your topic is very interesting. I have been reading a great deal of literature on what ingredients go into our food. I have read about the rules including eating something with 5 or fewer ingredients, or making sure you can read all of the ingredients, or only eating whole foods. One of the times when I felt my best was when I traveled to Costa Rica. We only had access to fresh food, which we bought every morning. The restaurants we frequented had tiny refrigerators and no freezers. I had so much energy and felt great about myself. Unfortunately, in America it is incredibly difficult to avoid. Sugars, salts, and fats are everywhere.
ReplyDeleteGreat activity with your students! I am not surprised there are no Twinkie takers!
That is a great activity to do with your students, Monica! It would also be interesting to look at the ingredients in food from Fast Food restaurants. I think there was a YouTube video at one point that showed the decompositions of different cheeseburgers - I think McDonald's had the slowest due to all the preservatives. Just a thoughts!
ReplyDeleteI am also not surprised that not many people have taken the years-old Twinkies! :)