Give your paper a title
This is a three-part assignment. For full credit you must complete all parts.
Part 1 – Reflection essay, minimum 800 words – this should be broken down into at least three paragraphs
Part 2 – Complete full sugar gram research on all 6 categories of processed food (no word minimum in this section, but be sure to provide all of the required information)
Part 3 – List the top 5 ‘sugar gram containing’ foods that you consumed this week. The point of this is for you to read labels. This is not judgmental. This is educational. The “food” industry would prefer that consumers pay no attention to their sugar consumption. The experts featured in this film take the opposite position and issue cautionary warnings about unchecked sugar consumption.
Missing information will cost you points and lower your grade
Link to ‘Fed-Up’
https://archive.org/details/FedUp2014DocumentaryLinks to an external site.
Part I – Write a reflection on the politics of food that were presented in this film. Include detail on how the food industry operates to maximize profit at the expense of consumers. Include specific detail on the politicians who support This means at least 800 words on ‘Fed Up.’ Some things to consider: What did you learn? What surprised you?
Include responses to these questions:
What did you think of the Department of Agriculture’s conflict of interest to encourage Americans to eat what it characterizes as a “healthier diet” while also subsidizing the production of non-healthy food?
What did you think about the altering of the McGovern Report and the World Health Organization’s report?
Did you know that food lobbies, like ‘Big Sugar’ and ‘Big Dairy’ were so powerful? What lobbyist said that soft drinks could provide the daily recommended intake of liquid? What lobbyist talked about Ronald McDonald? What did she say? What lobbyist talked about soft drinks, and what did he say?
What did you think of food industry representatives as they insisted that their products were not harmful to consumers?
Who are the featured children in the film? Name them. How much does each of them weigh? What are their stories? How are their stories similar and how are they different? Who among them will undergo surgery (explain what kind of surgery) because of their obesity?
Include this: what politician worked to make pizza a vegetable? (Hint: she ran for president)
A question for you to consider: how much processed food do you consume on a daily/weekly/monthly basis? Do you rely on fast food and processed food? Or, do you cook? Some of both?
Part II – Do you read labels? You will for this assignment. In your local grocery store, corner market, 7-11, wherever packaged and processed food is sold, you will do some research find these items and report on their nutritional content. You can also go online to find labels:
5 different cereals – give the actual brand name and product name and list the sugar content per serving
Example: General Mills, Trix, 10grams
5 different juices (only100% juice products, that is no sugar added juices and no artificial sweeteners added) – give the actual brand name and product name and list the sugar content per serving
Example: Martinelli’s, apple juice, 39 grams
DO NOT LIST PUNCH – Punch is NOT juice. If you list any type of punch, you will not receive credit for that entry. If you are not sure, email me and ask.
JUICE DEFINITION: 100% liquid extract from plants –– only fruits or vegetables or a combination of both – NOTHING else is added (except ascorbic acid, which is Vitamin C, used as a preservative). No water, flavorings, colorings, etc.
5 different canned fruits 100% fruit:
No ADDED sugar – NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
– give the brand name and product name and list the sugar content per serving
5 different types of sugared soda (No diet sodas! No artificial sweeteners! No Stevia-sweetened sodas!) – give the brand name and product name and list the sugar content per serving
5 different baby food items no-sugar added fruits or vegetables or juices (no meats or cereals or crackers or yogurt allowed here), packaged in a jar or pouch or bottle –– give the brand name and product name and list the amount of sugar per serving.
One brand of baby formula – list the first ingredient and the grams of sugar per serving and the carbohydrates per serving. Baby formula manufacturers are getting very sneaky, and laws allowing them to hide sugar on the labels are becoming common. Many formulas hide the sugar under ‘carbohydrates.’ We now know that corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup are sugars. Many baby formulas list corn syrup or lactose as the first ingredient, then claim 0 grams of sugar. These sugars are listed as carbohydrates to make it appear that the product contains no sugar.
Part III – The third part of this assignment is to keep track of what you eat for one week. Start reading labels and noting the sugar content. The sugar content in 100% juice products may shock you. When fruits are processed (cooked) this chemical process radically increases the sugar content. As you will learn from the film, when the fiber is removed from fresh fruits and vegetables and these are turned into juices, the sugar content soars.
For this section, list the top five sugar-containing foods you consumed this week. List the item and the grams of sugar it contained:
Example:
Yoplait Strawberry yogurt: 20g of sugar
Food 1/sugar content:
Food 2/sugar content:
Food 3/sugar content:
Food 4/sugar content:
Food 5/sugar content:
