Food Choices - A Documentary and Handout

On Monday, we will be watching a 2016 documentary called, "Food Choices" in place of science. The documentary is very biased towards carnivorous and even omnivorous diets, but in a non-threatening, tolerable way. It includes a lot of scholarly and/or celebrity speakers discussing facts about dietary needs and animal welfare.


In my own personal notes, I wrote down some books that I wanted to investigate after hearing the guest speakers - "The China Study" and "The Starch Solution." I also wrote down the name of a movie (see question 30) that I'd like to preview and possibly share as a classroom assignment - "Earthlings." I'm not sure I'd like to expose my child to inhumanity, not knowing the extent of the film, but I also don't want to shield him from the world. I have to think about that one.


I wrote up an easy worksheet to go along with the documentary. If you'd like to use it, please feel free. Just highlight the text below and paste it to your favorite format. That way, you don't have to print the rest of this page. 

 

Food Choices

1. Having a diet rich in _______-based food is the best diet for human beings.
2. ________ and ________ are good for you. We all know that.
3. In history, rich people could afford to eat _______, which made them very fat and sick. The only difference today is that we have more kings and queens.
   “The best diet is the diet that you Do/don't know you're on.”
4. Humans do/don't need protein.
5. In healthier parts of the world, very _______ meat is used to add __________ to a dish, which makes the population much healthier than we are in the USA.
6. White meats, like chicken and fish are better than/worse than/equally as bad for us as red meat.
   Consuming Animal Products
7. Milk is made for ________, with natural (and sometimes chemically added) hormones that help them grow.
8. Binders for cheese are as addictive as _________.
9. Eggs are the highest dietary source of _____________.
10. Which Omega fatty acid is in eggs (3 or 6)? ____
11. Essential means, “must come from ________
12. Instead of supplementing Omega-___, we should be lowering Omega-___ sources from our diet.
13. NutrientFacts compares fish oil supplements to selling ________ oil because that was a completely fictitious oil sold by peddlers as a cure-all for ailments.
    Health Concerns
14. Erectile dysfunction (when your penis no longer functions properly) is an early warning sign of __________ arteries.
15. Portion control and 'make yourself sick' diets do/don't work because they trick us into ignoring when we're hungry. All of these diets are replicas of each other.
16. Julie referred to herself as a 'fat vegan' until she removed _________, __________, and ________ from her diet.
17. Carbohydrates don't make us sick; simple carbohydrates do make us sick because the body doesn't have to do any work to process them. Some examples of simple carbohydrates are (List at least 4 foods/drinks): ________________________________________________________

Can we choose?

18. Who dictates what fast food companies will sell? ___________
19. Chemical medicines create more/less medical problems.
20. Its more profitable to ________ a medical illness than it is to _________ it, so that's where all of our medical funding goes.

Why should we eat healthier?

21. You do NOT have to sacrifice __________ when you eat healthier.
22. Because of the way nutrient-dense foods make your body feel, you will eventually _______ them.
23. Healthy foods are cheaper/more expensive than processed foods.
24. In addition to being thinner, children the consume plant-based diets tend to be taller/shorter than other children.
25. To encourage children to make healthy choices, parents should:
    - “_______ your _______.” Another words, we need to practice what we preach.
    - Let kids be __________ in what kind of groceries and ingredients the family uses
    - Appeal to their interests by showing them new gadgets/ingredients. For example, a parent could make a ________ version of a burger.

The Treatment of Food Animals

26. Meats contain _____________s that cannot be washed off, like we can do with plants.
27. Bi-catch or bi-kill are the ________ life that are harmed during the process of catching desirable species.
28. _________ is a belief system that allows us to treat some animals as family and consume other animals as food.
29. Peace on earth is for _________ living things; not just human beings!

LAST QUESTION (to make it a nice even 30):

30. Would you like to watch a documentary about what happens behind the scenes in businesses that profit from the marketing of animals? The documentary will show the treatment of animals within pet shops, animal shelters, factory farms, the sports/entertainment industry, and in medical science. You may have to watch the documentary regardless of your personal choice, but your opinion does matter.
    A. Sure, this was the easiest science lesson I ever had! I'd be happy to watch another movie as classwork.
    B. No way, mom. This movie was uncool and irrelevant to me. I care about animals...in my belly.
    C. Meh, I don't care either way. You pick.