Your Average American Meal

An Average American Meal NFTY-TOR Na'aseh V'Nishmah December 4-6, 2009 Written by Julie Bock, 5769-5770 NFTY-TOR President and Lillian Lerer, 5769-5770 NFTY-TOR SAVP

Touchtone Text: “G-d said, ‘See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed- bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food.’ ” -- Genesis 1:29

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances of survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” -- Albert Einstein

“The world must create five billion vegans in the next several decades, or triple its total farm output without using more land.” – Dennis Avery, Director of the Centre for Global Food Issues

Goals: 1. To better understand the effects of what we eat on our world and on our bodies. 2. PP’s should have a better understanding of what is going into our food. 3. PP’s will be more conscious of the food that they are consuming.

Objectives: 1. PP’s will have an idea of the effects of meat production on our environment. 2. Will be able to describe why corn is in our diet, and how it affects us individually. 3. PP’s will be aware of their effect on the environment.

Materials: -Projector w/screen -1 small plastic bag for each PP -scoop (to measure the 11 teaspoons) -corn starch mixed with water -pens & paper

People: -PP’s -Someone to set up projector -2 PLs -6 staff, (1 per at location) -10 wandering staff (to stand between locations)

Space Needed: Good Weather Plan Arctic Weather Plan -Teatron -Chadar Ochel -Art room -kitchen doors -Cabin A Porch -Tennis court -Joshua Tree -Zula drink machines -Zip-line Base -Office door -Beit Keneset -Stage -Fish Bowl -Far side of the Chadar (by the AC units) Time Table: 00:00-00:05 – Intro 00:05-00:10 – McDonalds Hamburger 00:10-00:20 – Beef PowerPoint 00:20-00:40 – Scavenger hunt 00:40-00:45 – Gather Back in the Teatron/Chadar Ochel 00:45-01:00 – Corn 01:00-01:20 – Wrap up discussion

Detailed Procedure: 00:00-00:00 Before the program begins PL’s need to put the cards up at each location. Each group should be going a different route in a different order. Pl’s should write, “Go to (next location’s name)” on each card. Each card should be printed on the team’s color paper or have some way to tell each group’s card from other groups.

00:00-00:05 – Intro The PP’s will enter the Teatron/Chadar Ochel and sit down on the floor. Once all of the PP’s are quiet the Program Leader will proceed to explain the program. Program Leader: “Welcome to the program everyone. Today we’re going to be focusing on what you eat. More specifically, we’ll figure out what goes into the making of a basic American Meal —McDonalds. We want you to consider the foods you eat and realize the process that food goes through to get to your plate.

00:05-00:10 – McDonalds PL will show McDonalds hamburger and talk about it. Program Leader: “This McDonalds hamburger was bought on November 10th, 2009. The reason it has not gone bad is because of the preservatives: it does not have anything living in it which would cause it to mold. It is purely a ‘chemical food.’ 4 Years from now there will be no mold, no mildew, and it will be just as greasy as the day we bought it. The scary part about this—our bodies cannot break this food down either.

00:10-00:20 – PowerPoint PowerPoint is found in Appendix A will be interactive in nature. It will focus on the environmental impact of meat production. Points include water consumption, fossil fuel, and negative effects of intensive agriculture, deforestation, and other information. Questions will be posed for consideration throughout PowerPoint, and PP’s will be expected to write down answers on a sheet of paper for usage in later discussion.

00:20-00:40 – Scavenger hunt As soon as the PowerPoint ends, location leaders should be dismissed to their pre-assigned locations. Location Leaders should turn to Appendix B and find the section that has the information for their assigned location. GL will take their group to the first location—the grain production area. PP's will be directed to the next location by the location leader.

00:40-00:45 – Re-gather in Teatron/Chadar Ochel

00:45-01:00 –Corn PP’s will then scoop 11 teaspoons of a corn syrup imitation into a plastic baggie for to experience the amount eaten per day by Americans. Once all of the PP’s are quiet, the Program Leader will explain this part. Program Leader: “I’m sure you have all heard about the concern for corn syrup. You may have even seen commercials telling you why it ‘isn’t so bad.’ The amount of corn syrup found in our food correlates perfectly with the obesity rate in Americans; as corn syrup usage rises, obesity rises. But why? Corn syrup is an artificial sugar. Our brain tells us that we are full when our body realizes that our sugar levels have reached a stable level. If we are only getting fake sugar, it takes our body longer to say “I’m full, I’m full.” Causing Americans to over eat and our waistlines to grow. The amount of ‘corn syrup’ in your baggie represents the amount the average American eats a day. That’s 11 teaspoons per day. 38 pounds per year. The clip you’re about to watch of Food Inc further describes the harmful effects of altered forms of corn in our diets.”

PP’s will watch an informative clip about corn from the movie “Food Inc.” Clip describes the environmental and health impact of corn on our planet and bodies. It provides fascinating and shocking information about a ubiquitous material.

01:00-01:20 –Wrap up discussion PP’s will split into groups of 9 and engage in a discussion about the information they learned. GLs should instruct PP’s to refer to the earlier Kashrut program any notes taken during current program.

Discussion questions—Go where the discussion takes you. Ask what you like or what Is pertinent, while still staying mostly on topic.  Did anything you learned today surprise you? What was it?  What does it mean to eat ethically? o Just being aware? Vegetarian? Vegan? Organic? Local markets? o Is your definition of Eating Ethically practical?—Consider convenience, cost, etc.  What do our diets say about us as people? o Are we what we eat?  What is our responsibility in knowing what is in our food? o Why it is in there? o Were it comes from?  How do you define a “healthy” diet? o Calories? Portion sizes? o What about environmental and economic health…  What choices can YOU make to promote ethical eating? o While being healthy, economical, environmentally conscious, but still being practical?

Once the Group Leader is done with the conclusion they should instruct the PP’s about what is happening next. Appendix A

The order of the stations is as follows 1. The growth of corn, cows feed 2. Live auction market 3. Feedlot 4. Slaughterhouse 5. Processing/Factory 6. Supermarket and Restaurants 4. Slaughterhouse 1. Birth on large breeding farm This is the slaughterhouse. We make cows Cow’s diet mainly consists of corn. They have to into very rare steaks. Sickness, injury, and eat such a high amount that the average premature death of cattle—all the ones who hamburger takes 2 pounds of corn to produce. don’t make it this far—cause an economic Unfortunately for cows, corn is very unhealthy loss of $4.6 billion a year in the United for them. Their bodies have seven stomachs to States. digest and break down grass

2. Livestock Auction Market 5. Processing/Factory Welcome to a live auction. Here, cows are Welcome to the meat-processing factory. This is probed and weighed and sold in hundreds by big where we fill the meat with perseverates and corporations. Then they are transferred to package the meat. We then ship it to your local another farm to be raised. McDonald’s. Now go back to the Teatron/Chadar Ochel.

3. Feed Lot This is a feedlot, where cows are raised. There 6. Supermarkets and Restaurants are 42,000 feedlots in the U.S. Cattle production You’ve traveled along with your meal, from is a major cause of water pollution. Here, cattle growing its feed, being sold and raised, produce nearly one billion tons of organic waste slaughtering, and packaging. Welcome to each year and are pumped with antibiotics and McDonalds. May I take your order? Would you hormones. like to supersize that?