Friday, May 3, 2013

HW - 5/3/13

This weekend's homework is to complete Assignment #29. See below.

Assignment #29 - All Your Food Are Belongs To Corn (and Soybeans)

Based on the video clip from “Food, Inc.” and the reading from Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, answer the following questions to the best of your ability in complete sentences.

Comprehension Questions

1. Why do we grow so much dang corn in the United States?

2. Why are corn and soybeans found in all my gosh darn food?

3. Identify and describe health issues associated with consumption of corn-sweetened, processed foods.

Thinking/Reflection Questions

4a. Look at the foods in your home and complete the table on the back by identifying which of the  foods/products in your home contain which corn-based ingredients.

4b. What is your reaction to your findings?

5. Who is to blame/thank for creating and perpetuating such an oversupply of cheap, processed foods?

6. Pollan claims that if we continue our current agricultural policies, “the cheapest calories in the supermarket will continue to be the unhealthiest.” How could this be changed? If you had to create a farm bill (legislation that controls agriculture/food policy), how would you encourage farmers to change what they grow?

7. In economics, externalities are costs (or benefits) associated with a product/transaction that the consumer does not know about or does not choose to incur. In other words, externalities are hidden costs. Based on what you have viewed and/or read about this week, write at least a paragraph answering the following: What is the true cost of our food? Are there externalities associated with American food supply?

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