Feeling Peckish

In our final unit for our class Food for Thought, we learned al about industrial vs, organic foods. We also learned about the food industry, and how our food is made. We watched a film called "Food Inc." This film was pretty disturbing to me, considering I am pretty much always terrified of food poisoning and am overly concerned about food safety. This film only reinforced my fears and made me give up red meat completely. For our FE, we went to an all organic and green rooftop garden called Uncommon Ground in Edgewater. We met with farmer Allison who leads us on a tour and let us sample their crops. For our action project, we also studied Ayurvedic tastes and did a taste test of different foods to identify their tastes. For our final action project, we were asked to cook a homemade meal, and then get the same meal from a restaurant and compare the two. I chose a long-time favorite of mine: chicken tenders. I cooked the chicken tenders and made potatoes wedges to represent french fries. I then went the next night to Popeye's Chicken and got their chicken tenders and fries, which have also been a long time favorite of mine. My favorite part of this action project is the fact that I got to each one of my favorite meals two nights in a row. I thought the most challenging part was identifying all the different tastes of each dish. In the end, this is my last action project of my freshman year, and I am very excited for next year.

OMG it's GMOs

For our 3rd and final unit of our food class, we learned all about genetics, and GMOs. We learned how to analyze graphs, and create punnet squares. We took a field experience to Green City Market in Lincoln Park to talk to some farmers and vendors about their stances on GMOs. For the action project, we were asked to debate whether we are pro-GMO or anti-GMO. I chose anti-GMO because I always tended to lean towards that side. We were asked to either create a slideshow or an essay about our stance on GMOs. We needed to include an emotional/ethical appeal as well as a graph backing up our position. In the end, I thought this project was pretty difficult because of the fact that we had to get a quote from an actual farmer, as well as the graph. I am most proud of how it came out and am very happy to be done with freshman year.

Food: GMO Debate- CM from GCE Lab School on Vimeo.