'Food, Inc. 2' worksheet for National Food Day

Happy National Food Day! New movie, new worksheet. Follow over the jump.

I set up today's post in 'Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy' leads Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary nominees at the News & Doc Emmy Awards.

I begin with the sequel to Food, Inc., Food, Inc. 2 - Official Trailer | Directed by Melissa Robledo, Robert Kenner | Documentary by Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing.

In Food, Inc. 2, the sequel to the 2008 Oscar®-nominated and Emmy®-award winning documentary, Food, Inc., filmmakers Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo reunite with investigative authors Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) to take a fresh look at our efficient yet vulnerable food system. Since the first film, multinational corporations have tightened their stronghold on the U.S. government. The system at large has robbed workers of a fair living wage, and profit focused corporations are proliferating a chemically formulated international health crisis by focusing on growing the market for ultra-processed foods.

The film centers around innovative farmers, future-thinking food producers, workers’ rights activists and prominent legislators such as U.S Senators Cory Booker and Jon Tester, who are facing these companies head-on to inspire change and build a healthier, more sustainable future.

If I'm showing the original to my students, I can certainly recommend the sequel. In fact, I should watch the entire documentary to see if its worth replacing the original and leaving an updated assignment for my successor. Again, welcome to blogging as professional development.

I did watch the documentary and made the following worksheet for it, which my students completed two weeks ago.

FOOD, INC. 2

In this lab session, you will watch Food, Inc. 2, an Emmy-nominated 2023 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner and Melissa Robledo, and narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser. It is the sequel to the 2008 film Food, Inc. The film focuses on corporate consolidation in the American food and agriculture business.*

After the video is over, find the best examples you saw of each of the following from the film and write them in the blanks.

A value expressed and a decision made based on that value.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Everything is connected to everything else.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

There is no such thing as a free lunch (Editorial comment: I’ve never used this expression as literally as in this exercise and its extra credit :-).
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Everything must go somewhere.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nature knows best.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*From Wikipedia.

1. List at least three connections between you and food (you can also use this for “Everything is connected to everything else”).


2. How has the food movement changed the food system?


3. What did the COVID-19 pandemic reveal about the food system?


4. How did Florida’s government react to the pandemic?


5. What did Tyson’s and other meat packers do (and not do) to stay open during the pandemic?


6. What effect did the breakup of AT&T have on consumer prices for phone service?


7. How much of the beef market was controlled by the top four beef packers in 1980? In 2023?


8. What happened to baby formula during the pandemic? Why?


9. Why are dairy farms moving from Wisconsin to California and Arizona and what are the environmental costs, especially on water? Answer both parts of the question.


10. Why do farmers grow mostly corn and soybeans in Iowa and what is the effect on soil? Answer both parts of the question.


11. How did Senator Cory Booker describe the effects of the food system on his constituents?


12. What happened to the diabetes rate?


13. How does Tester describe the effect of corporate agriculture on small farms?


14. What kinds of food are our tax dollars subsidizing?


15. How did food companies increase profits?


16. What in ultraprocessed foods drives appetites/overeating?


17. How much of U.S. food dollars are going to farmers?


18. What happens to calories when they don’t match taste?


19. How much of U.S. calorie intake comes from ultraprocessed food? France? Brazil? Italy?


20. How long has the federal minimum wage been at $7.25 per hour?


21. How much does the CEO of Yum Brands earn in an hour? How much does the average Taco Bell worker make in a year? Answer both questions.


22. Which two companies’ workers are the biggest users of food stamps and Medicaid?


23. How many Americans are employed in agriculture?


24. Which food contributes most to climate change?


25. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Impossible Foods?


26. What are Larissa Zimberoff’s concerns about plant-based and synthetic foods?


27. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Stock Cropper? (Could be used for Nature Knows Best).


28. Why is Bren Smith raising kelp and oysters instead of fish? What are their advantages? Answer both questions.


29. What did the Fair Food Program achieve?


30. What do you think and or feel about Senators Booker’s and Tester’s remarks at the end of the movie?

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES
For ten more points, watch the original Food, Inc., which is on YouTube, and complete the worksheet. You may also complete the “Raising Chickens” handout on page G6 for two more points.
For ten more points, watch the movie King Corn, which is on YouTube, and complete the worksheet that will be provided on request.

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned as I resume going full spooky season through November 1st.