Unit8: Food, Health and Science - or "Food for Thought!"
Intro:
In this unit, we will focus on food-related issues, and especially on the way food, health and science often mingle. As usual, you will find here some of the documents studied in class, but also others to help you go further. This unit will also be a way to introduce a few notions that will be useful next year when we work on Unit17 and healthcare.
Survival kit:
Download this file and add whatever you think is interesting.
Step1: "The World is FAT" (Barry Popkin):
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Obesity: an American problem?
The World is Fat: Obesity not just an American problem" (doc1a)
Recent figures on the obesity crisis in the U.S. (Fortune)
"Our Fight with Fat: why is obesity getting worse?" (The Conversation)
The Obesity-hunger paradox: "A place at the table" (doc1b) ------->
"Obesity soars to 'alarming' levels in developing countries" (The Guardian)
- Obesity in the UK:
"Fast Food baby" trailer (doc1c) ------------------------------------------->
"Britain has one of the worst obesity rates Europe. Why?" (The Financial Times) (doc1d)
Step2: "New" healthy-eating trends: (doc2a)
- Programs to tackle the obesity epidemic:
In the US:
Michelle Obama's 'Let's move' program
Michelle Obama and school lunches
The Biden-Harris administration's Challenge to end hunger and build healthy communities (The White House)
Jessica Alba's health tips / book contents
In the UK:
Rishi Sunak unveils new anti-obesity drug (DH)
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution
Jamie Oliver's protest outside Number 10
Gordon Ramsay's "Nightmare in the Kitchen"
- Ecricome Video (doc2b) (Irish Times)
Step3: Men, Science and Nature: The Covid Fallout, Food 2.0 and the Quest for Eternal Youth:
- A few major health scares:
Kinder eggs recalled in UK over salmonella link (The Guardian)
Palm oil in Nutella (Healthify me)
The horsemeat scandal (The Guardian)
- The Coronavirus context and the authorities' reactions:
A few notions which might be useful on this topic:
-the "unsung heroes" of the Coronavirus pandemic
The Covid fallout in the U.S and in the UK:
"Under Covid lockdown: how we lived four years ago", Reuters
"Covid-19 Fallout on individuals, economy and health to last for years, white paper concludes", (AJMC) (doc3a)
"Covid-19: 4 years later, where are we now?" Fox 5 (doc3b) : video below:
Looking on the bright side:
the silver linings of the Covid pandemic: (ASE)
(doc3c)
- The Quest for Eternal Youth:
"Can science slow down ageing?": (doc3e, video below/ edited version available in class)
The Longevity Genes Project (Albert Einstein College)
Step4: Food and agribusiness multinationals: Being ethical or Making profits?
- The controversial methods of food multinationals:
-How Sugar Lobbying Influenced government-funded research / find out more (doc4a)
-Coca Cola's greenwashing at COP27 (doc4b)
Audencia 2023
<----------- The Monsanto Papers (doc4c)
-Monsanto controls the White House and US Congress
- A few multinationals trying to act ethically or ecologically:
-Flawsome drinks (doc4d)
-a few companies fighting food waste
- NGOs and consumers: to consume or not to consume?
Go further!
- General knowledge:
Food bans in the US
Food in painting:
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A few interesting interesting resources to go further:
"The World according to Monsanto" (IMDB)
"Man vs Food" (tv show)
Trust (a serious game created by Danone)