Introduction
"I got ninety-nine problems but junk food ain't one. If you're having food problems, I feel bad for you son; I got ninety-nine problems but junk food ain't one. Feed me."
Although this quote is an obvious play on a popular song, my goal is that students who complete the lessons in my unit will have the confidence to believe that these words apply to them. When students are given the knowledge about the foods they take into their bodies, they become empowered to take control of over their immediate and future health. Unfortunately, health issues stemming from obesity and malnutrition are quite prevalent amongst today's American youth. Indeed, many of my students suffer from both obesity and malnutrition simultaneously. This unit addresses these nutritional health issues head on by having students investigate what is really in their food, and teaching them to utilize various research methods to examine the health effects of the ingredients they discover. A knowledge-is-power approach that empowers children to improve their health through dietary consumption choices can affect other non-food choices they make as well, by creating informed young consumers who are conscious of their health, the environment, and fair labor practices.
Depending on one's socioeconomic background, access to healthy, affordable food can vary dramatically. Access to information about diet is a social justice issue, one that involves a number of factors: access to supermarkets with fresh produce versus convenient stores with processed food, corporate marketing strategies that target children, misinformation that makes certain foods appear healthier than they actually are, the inclusion of unhealthy processed foods on school campuses, an absence of knowledge concerning nutrition on behalf of the general public and corporate refusal to inform the general public by properly labeling their food products. These issues are especially relevant to the lives of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, like those who attend schools in a part of San Jose, California known as the "East Side."
Comments: