Session A.1
jump to: Spotlight on UUs Did you know? For our next session
Movie night
The main event in this DOVE session is the 2011 documentary Food Stamped. From the DVD jacket: Shira teaches health cooking classes to elementary students in low-income neighborhoods, most of whom are eligible for food stamps. In an attempt to walk a mile in their shoes, Shira and Yoav embark on the "Food Stamp Challenge," eating on roughly one dollar per meal. Through their adventures, they consult with Members of Congress, food justice advocates, nutrition experts, and people living on food stamps to take a deep look at America's broken food system.
PREPARATION
1. Read this session all the way through. Scripted language in highlighting is offered as guidance; feel free to deviate as you see fit.
2. (This step does not apply, if your class already met for the Group Orientation.) If your class did the Home Orientation, they should be emailing you their worries & hopes. Acknowledge each email individually, then share the responses with everyone. Here is a template for your email.
3. Obtain Food Stamped. (You can purchase the DVD or, if your congregation has wireless Internet access, another option is Amazon instant video.)
4. Arrange for the necessary viewing equipment.
5. Do a trial run to resolve any technical difficulties in advance.
6. Mid-week, send reminder email with link to the assigned viewing. Here is a template for your email. (The email asks participants to watch this short video to prepare for the session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj4fh_R0Qt8)
7. Obtain nametags or nametag-making materials (including low-odor markers).
8. Create enough signage to help participants find the meeting space. With a wide marker, add arrows pointing left, right, or ahead as needed.
Welcome and introductions or check-in (10 minutes)
Arrive early enough to post signage.
As participants arrive, greet them and invite them to make a nametag.
If this is your first gathering (that is, if participants did the Orientation at home), say, Welcome to DOVE—Demonstrating Our Values through Eating! Let’s do a round of introductions. I’ll go first, to model. My name is _____ , one of my favorite foods is _____ , and I’m participating in DOVE because ________ .
Take this opportunity to describe any background or qualifications you have that are relevant to your role as a DOVE facilitator.
If this is your second gathering (that is, if participants met already to do the Group Orientation), say, Welcome back to DOVE, everyone. Let's go around the circle to check in about our week. I'll start... Model a brief check-in, and let each participant take a turn doing the same.
Proceed to next section, "Recap of Home Orientation," if this is your first gathering.
If this is your second gathering, skip the next section and introduce the film.
Recap of Home Orientation (10 minutes)
If everyone emailed you their worries & hopes, say, I[we] want to thank everyone for taking the time to do the orientation at home.
If some participants didn't email you their worries & hopes yet, say, Those of you who did the course orientation at home already, thank you—and if you didn't yet, please do it this week, if you can. It covers some important topics that I[we] don't want you to miss out on.
For those of you who did do the Orientation, did you have any reactions you want to share? To refresh your memory, the first part of the Orientation covered course expectations (have fun, remember that our journeys are unique, an exit ticket will be requested at the end of DOVE); course assumptions, and communication skills. The second part covered the diet-climate connection, and then we all shared hopes and worries about the course.
Make sure to ask, What did you think about the video by Connie Barlow and Rev. Michael Dowd?
Let participants share their reactions. Thank you—and remember, if you want to share any of that feedback with the curriculum authors, you can leave comments at the bottom of every page at the DOVE site.
Film (63 minutes) Introduce Food Stamped this way: This documentary follows a nutritionist and her filmmaker husband as they attempt to eat a healthy diet on a food stamp budget. Has anyone already seen this, or heard of it?
Make sure to explain, One of the reasons we show it as part of DOVE is because, quite frankly, for those of us without food security, concern about better food choices can seem like a luxury. When you're struggling to make ends meet, the main question is whether you're eating, period—not whether you're eating "ethically." So we're going to take a look at this issue of food insecurity and hunger to get a better sense of what the problem is, and what some of the answers may be.
Discussion (15 minutes)
Afterwards, let participants share their reactions to the film. Sample questions:
Before we end our session tonight, let me remind you that our next meeting will be [date, time] and we will be preparing some breakfast recipes together. So let's form recipe groups right now, and each group will be responsible for one recipe. The recipes are: muesli, fruit smoothies, and Ben Franklin Scramble. Do I have three volunteers who are willing to serve as recipe group leaders? Who wants to be in charge of the muesli? [etc.] Give each volunteer a recipe packet.
Explain, The packet includes your recipe as well as the other two recipes, because we want everyone to have all the recipes.
Ask other participants to join one of the recipe groups. Record who is in which group, and distribute remaining recipe packets so each participant has one.
You may want to huddle briefly with your group before you leave tonight, to decide who will bring which ingredients and cooking equipment for your particular recipe.
Also, we need to know if there any food allergies that we need to accommodate? Record responses.
Between now and the next session, there is an assigned video to watch, which you can access from the DOVE site. And I[we] will send you a reminder email about it.
Let's conclude now with a brief check-out, which we will do at the end of each DOVE session. How was this session for you? Any positives (things you especially liked)? Any deltas (things you would change)?
Take note of feedback, thank participants for coming, and invite recipe groups to huddle & coordinate plans for next session.
Further learning this week...
Spotlight on UUs
Food Stamped featured Cooking with Kids, a Santa Fe-based non-profit organization that introduces students to more vegetables and fruits.
Likewise, the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food (NYCHSF) is an organization that introduces plant-based foods and nutrition education in schools throughout New York state and around the country.
Unitarian Universalist Amie Hamlin is NYCHSF's Executive Director.
NYCHSF's recipes have been distributed to 25,000 schools nationwide, and they were one of five organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as offering the most promising practices in the country.
Hamlin and her daughter live in Ithaca, NY, where they participate in two CSAs. (CSA = community-supported agriculture. Learn more about CSAs here.)
They also regularly attend the Friday night community dinner which generated this new cookbook: The Great Life Cookbook. All the recipes are plant-based and scaled for large groups (20-24 people), so it could be a useful resource for your congregation.
Did you know?
For our next session...
Watch the short video directly below. It is "The Myth of Choice: How Junk-Food Marketers Target Our Kids." (length: 6:25 min)
If you are using an iPad, the embedded video below is not visible to you.
Instead, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DOVELappe
Anna Lappé is an author, educator, and director of the new Food MythBusters project, which is supported by a coalition of food and farming organizations including Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Food & Water Watch, and Food Chain Workers Alliance. Anna's mother is Frances Moore Lappé, who wrote the 1971 best-seller Diet for a Small Planet and whose parents founded a Unitarian church in Texas in the 1950s.
Article: "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food," by Michael Moss. Allow 30 minutes to read this; it's long.
This article is adapted from Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, published February 2013.
Moss is an investigative reporter for The New York Times. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2010 for his reporting on the meat industry.
Moss's book is similar to David Kessler's The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, except that Moss focuses on food eaten at home, whereas much of Kessler's book is about restaurant fare.
Another interesting side-note: part II of Moss's article describes the wildly successful Lunchables product line, created by the Oscar Mayer company. The founder of the Oscar Mayer company was Oscar F. Mayer, whose great-grandson Chuck Collins is a Unitarian Universalist, philanthropist (he gave away his family inheritance), and policy expert on U.S. economic inequality. UU World magazine ran this profile of Collins in 2003.
Quick video: After Moss's "Addictive Junk Food" article, you'll be ready for some good news. So watch this 2-minute video, "Changing Our Taste Buds."
If you are using an iPad, the embedded video below is not visible to you. Instead, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DOVEtastebuds
Movie nightThe main event in this DOVE session is the 2011 documentary Food Stamped. From the DVD jacket: Shira teaches health cooking classes to elementary students in low-income neighborhoods, most of whom are eligible for food stamps. In an attempt to walk a mile in their shoes, Shira and Yoav embark on the "Food Stamp Challenge," eating on roughly one dollar per meal. Through their adventures, they consult with Members of Congress, food justice advocates, nutrition experts, and people living on food stamps to take a deep look at America's broken food system.
PREPARATION
1. Read this session all the way through. Scripted language in highlighting is offered as guidance; feel free to deviate as you see fit.
2. (This step does not apply, if your class already met for the Group Orientation.) If your class did the Home Orientation, they should be emailing you their worries & hopes. Acknowledge each email individually, then share the responses with everyone. Here is a template for your email.
3. Obtain Food Stamped. (You can purchase the DVD or, if your congregation has wireless Internet access, another option is Amazon instant video.)
4. Arrange for the necessary viewing equipment.
5. Do a trial run to resolve any technical difficulties in advance.
6. Mid-week, send reminder email with link to the assigned viewing. Here is a template for your email. (The email asks participants to watch this short video to prepare for the session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj4fh_R0Qt8)
7. Obtain nametags or nametag-making materials (including low-odor markers).
8. Create enough signage to help participants find the meeting space. With a wide marker, add arrows pointing left, right, or ahead as needed.
9. Make copies of each recipe for A.2 (printable versions here)—assemble a set of recipes for each participant.
10. Plan to offer some plant-based snacks, and shop accordingly.
Note on session length: if this is your first gathering (that is, if participants did the Orientation at home), you may need to allow an extra ten minutes for this session (so you can include the Orientation Recap element). If this is your second gathering (that is, if your class did the Group Orientation), an hour and 35 minutes should be ample time for this session.
10. Plan to offer some plant-based snacks, and shop accordingly.
Note on session length: if this is your first gathering (that is, if participants did the Orientation at home), you may need to allow an extra ten minutes for this session (so you can include the Orientation Recap element). If this is your second gathering (that is, if your class did the Group Orientation), an hour and 35 minutes should be ample time for this session.
Welcome and introductions or check-in (10 minutes)
Arrive early enough to post signage.
As participants arrive, greet them and invite them to make a nametag.
If this is your first gathering (that is, if participants did the Orientation at home), say, Welcome to DOVE—Demonstrating Our Values through Eating! Let’s do a round of introductions. I’ll go first, to model. My name is _____ , one of my favorite foods is _____ , and I’m participating in DOVE because ________ .
Take this opportunity to describe any background or qualifications you have that are relevant to your role as a DOVE facilitator.
If this is your second gathering (that is, if participants met already to do the Group Orientation), say, Welcome back to DOVE, everyone. Let's go around the circle to check in about our week. I'll start... Model a brief check-in, and let each participant take a turn doing the same.
Proceed to next section, "Recap of Home Orientation," if this is your first gathering.
If this is your second gathering, skip the next section and introduce the film.
Recap of Home Orientation (10 minutes)
If everyone emailed you their worries & hopes, say, I[we] want to thank everyone for taking the time to do the orientation at home.
If some participants didn't email you their worries & hopes yet, say, Those of you who did the course orientation at home already, thank you—and if you didn't yet, please do it this week, if you can. It covers some important topics that I[we] don't want you to miss out on.
For those of you who did do the Orientation, did you have any reactions you want to share? To refresh your memory, the first part of the Orientation covered course expectations (have fun, remember that our journeys are unique, an exit ticket will be requested at the end of DOVE); course assumptions, and communication skills. The second part covered the diet-climate connection, and then we all shared hopes and worries about the course.
Make sure to ask, What did you think about the video by Connie Barlow and Rev. Michael Dowd?
Let participants share their reactions. Thank you—and remember, if you want to share any of that feedback with the curriculum authors, you can leave comments at the bottom of every page at the DOVE site.
Film (63 minutes) Introduce Food Stamped this way: This documentary follows a nutritionist and her filmmaker husband as they attempt to eat a healthy diet on a food stamp budget. Has anyone already seen this, or heard of it?
Make sure to explain, One of the reasons we show it as part of DOVE is because, quite frankly, for those of us without food security, concern about better food choices can seem like a luxury. When you're struggling to make ends meet, the main question is whether you're eating, period—not whether you're eating "ethically." So we're going to take a look at this issue of food insecurity and hunger to get a better sense of what the problem is, and what some of the answers may be.
Discussion (15 minutes)
Afterwards, let participants share their reactions to the film. Sample questions:
- How did you feel, watching Shira and Yoav shop and cook on their budget?
- Have you ever been hungry, or worried about where your next meal would come from?
- Did this film change your perception of hunger or poverty in the United States?
- Do you know of any farm-to-school programs in your area, or school garden projects?
- Do you know if kitchen facilities in your community's schools are equipped for actual cooking, or do they merely reheat food?
- What is your congregation already doing, or what (more) could it do, on the issue of domestic food security? If your discussion sparks any ideas, capture them for possible Exit Ticket next steps.
Before we end our session tonight, let me remind you that our next meeting will be [date, time] and we will be preparing some breakfast recipes together. So let's form recipe groups right now, and each group will be responsible for one recipe. The recipes are: muesli, fruit smoothies, and Ben Franklin Scramble. Do I have three volunteers who are willing to serve as recipe group leaders? Who wants to be in charge of the muesli? [etc.] Give each volunteer a recipe packet.
Explain, The packet includes your recipe as well as the other two recipes, because we want everyone to have all the recipes.
Ask other participants to join one of the recipe groups. Record who is in which group, and distribute remaining recipe packets so each participant has one.
You may want to huddle briefly with your group before you leave tonight, to decide who will bring which ingredients and cooking equipment for your particular recipe.
Also, we need to know if there any food allergies that we need to accommodate? Record responses.
Between now and the next session, there is an assigned video to watch, which you can access from the DOVE site. And I[we] will send you a reminder email about it.
Let's conclude now with a brief check-out, which we will do at the end of each DOVE session. How was this session for you? Any positives (things you especially liked)? Any deltas (things you would change)?
Take note of feedback, thank participants for coming, and invite recipe groups to huddle & coordinate plans for next session.
Further learning this week...
Food Stamped featured Cooking with Kids, a Santa Fe-based non-profit organization that introduces students to more vegetables and fruits.
Likewise, the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food (NYCHSF) is an organization that introduces plant-based foods and nutrition education in schools throughout New York state and around the country.
 |
Amie Hamlin
|
NYCHSF's recipes have been distributed to 25,000 schools nationwide, and they were one of five organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as offering the most promising practices in the country.
Hamlin and her daughter live in Ithaca, NY, where they participate in two CSAs. (CSA = community-supported agriculture. Learn more about CSAs here.)
They also regularly attend the Friday night community dinner which generated this new cookbook: The Great Life Cookbook. All the recipes are plant-based and scaled for large groups (20-24 people), so it could be a useful resource for your congregation.
One in seven Americans uses 'food stamps,' or SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). In Canada, nearly one in eight families is food-insecure.
Page 24 in the UUA's Ethical Eating Resource Guide provides additional data on domestic food security.
Does the 1-in-7 statistic surprise you? It reflects the reality of economic inequality today in the U.S., but most of us have a skewed perception of this reality. This video contrasts the perception and the reality:
If you are using an iPad, the embedded video below is not visible to you.
Instead, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DOVEinequality
Page 24 in the UUA's Ethical Eating Resource Guide provides additional data on domestic food security.
Does the 1-in-7 statistic surprise you? It reflects the reality of economic inequality today in the U.S., but most of us have a skewed perception of this reality. This video contrasts the perception and the reality:
If you are using an iPad, the embedded video below is not visible to you.
Instead, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DOVEinequality
Here is another mindful eater's account of her eating-on-a-budget experience: "My $1.50 a Day Challenge: Eating a Plant-Based Diet on an Austere Budget."
And here is the Facebook page for a plant-based food stamp challenge you can join. Dawn Moncrief, director of A Well-Fed World, shared her shopping strategy:
The founder of 20somethingfinance.com estimates that eating plant-based most of the time saves him $2-$3,000 per year.
And here is the Facebook page for a plant-based food stamp challenge you can join. Dawn Moncrief, director of A Well-Fed World, shared her shopping strategy:
Bread - $3
Natural peanut butter - $5
Yellow split peas - $2
Black-eyed peas - $2
Tofu - $2
Collard greens - $3
Apples - $7
Tomato - $1
Rice - $2
Grits - $3
--------------------------------
Using these groceries,
eating for seven days: $30
Natural peanut butter - $5
Yellow split peas - $2
Black-eyed peas - $2
Tofu - $2
Collard greens - $3
Apples - $7
Tomato - $1
Rice - $2
Grits - $3
--------------------------------
Using these groceries,
eating for seven days: $30
The founder of 20somethingfinance.com estimates that eating plant-based most of the time saves him $2-$3,000 per year.
If current trends continue, one in three U.S. children born in the year 2000 will develop diabetes. (Centers for Disease Control)
Many UUs have seen Food, Inc., and were especially moved by the segment on diabetes, which profiles the Orozco family. Alfredo, the father, is diabetic and the younger Orozco daughter is pre-diabetic. Play the first ten minutes of the video below to see the segment along with commentary by the film's director, Robert Kenner. He also provides some positive updates about the Orozco family.
If you are using an iPad, the embedded video below is not visible to you.
Instead, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DOVEFoodInc
Note: Kenner's use of the phrase "early onset diabetes" may cause confusion. There are two kinds of diabetes, and to avoid confusion, it is better to refer to them as "type 1" and "type 2" diabetes. This site provides more information about both kinds of diabetes.
But here is an easy-to-understand explanation: in type 1 diabetes, which is relatively rare (10% of diabetics), something has damaged your pancreas' ability to produce insulin, so you depend on an external source of insulin. In the more common kind of diabetes, type 2, your pancreas is still producing insulin (if the disease hasn't progressed too far). The problem is that your body's cells have stopped responding to the insulin.
Either way, why is this a problem? Because insulin is the key that unlocks the door to let glucose into your cells. So with type 1 diabetes, the problem is no key (no insulin). With type 2 diabetes, the key is there (in the beginning, at least), but your locks are all gummed up, so the key has stopped working.
Why does glucose need to get inside your cells? Because glucose is what your cells use for energy. Without enough glucose getting into your cells, you'll suffer from fatigue.
Also, if glucose can't get into your cells, it will build up in your bloodstream ("sugar in your blood"), which can eventually damage the blood vessels in your heart, eyes, kidneys, and legs.
The good news? We know a lot about preventing type 2 diabetes. Diet seems to be critical.
What's more, the right food may even be a cure. Doctors used to believe that once you developed type 2 diabetes, progression was inevitable—but now we know better. We now have evidence that dietary changes and weight loss can reverse type 2 diabetes.
Many UUs have seen Food, Inc., and were especially moved by the segment on diabetes, which profiles the Orozco family. Alfredo, the father, is diabetic and the younger Orozco daughter is pre-diabetic. Play the first ten minutes of the video below to see the segment along with commentary by the film's director, Robert Kenner. He also provides some positive updates about the Orozco family.
If you are using an iPad, the embedded video below is not visible to you.
Instead, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DOVEFoodInc
Note: Kenner's use of the phrase "early onset diabetes" may cause confusion. There are two kinds of diabetes, and to avoid confusion, it is better to refer to them as "type 1" and "type 2" diabetes. This site provides more information about both kinds of diabetes.
But here is an easy-to-understand explanation: in type 1 diabetes, which is relatively rare (10% of diabetics), something has damaged your pancreas' ability to produce insulin, so you depend on an external source of insulin. In the more common kind of diabetes, type 2, your pancreas is still producing insulin (if the disease hasn't progressed too far). The problem is that your body's cells have stopped responding to the insulin.
Either way, why is this a problem? Because insulin is the key that unlocks the door to let glucose into your cells. So with type 1 diabetes, the problem is no key (no insulin). With type 2 diabetes, the key is there (in the beginning, at least), but your locks are all gummed up, so the key has stopped working.
Why does glucose need to get inside your cells? Because glucose is what your cells use for energy. Without enough glucose getting into your cells, you'll suffer from fatigue.
Also, if glucose can't get into your cells, it will build up in your bloodstream ("sugar in your blood"), which can eventually damage the blood vessels in your heart, eyes, kidneys, and legs.
The good news? We know a lot about preventing type 2 diabetes. Diet seems to be critical.
What's more, the right food may even be a cure. Doctors used to believe that once you developed type 2 diabetes, progression was inevitable—but now we know better. We now have evidence that dietary changes and weight loss can reverse type 2 diabetes.
Watch the short video directly below. It is "The Myth of Choice: How Junk-Food Marketers Target Our Kids." (length: 6:25 min)
If you are using an iPad, the embedded video below is not visible to you.
Instead, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DOVELappe
Anna Lappé is an author, educator, and director of the new Food MythBusters project, which is supported by a coalition of food and farming organizations including Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Food & Water Watch, and Food Chain Workers Alliance. Anna's mother is Frances Moore Lappé, who wrote the 1971 best-seller Diet for a Small Planet and whose parents founded a Unitarian church in Texas in the 1950s.
Optional assignments, if you have time:
Article: "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food," by Michael Moss. Allow 30 minutes to read this; it's long.This article is adapted from Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, published February 2013.
Moss is an investigative reporter for The New York Times. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2010 for his reporting on the meat industry.
Moss's book is similar to David Kessler's The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, except that Moss focuses on food eaten at home, whereas much of Kessler's book is about restaurant fare.Another interesting side-note: part II of Moss's article describes the wildly successful Lunchables product line, created by the Oscar Mayer company. The founder of the Oscar Mayer company was Oscar F. Mayer, whose great-grandson Chuck Collins is a Unitarian Universalist, philanthropist (he gave away his family inheritance), and policy expert on U.S. economic inequality. UU World magazine ran this profile of Collins in 2003.
Quick video: After Moss's "Addictive Junk Food" article, you'll be ready for some good news. So watch this 2-minute video, "Changing Our Taste Buds."
If you are using an iPad, the embedded video below is not visible to you. Instead, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DOVEtastebuds
2 Comments:
I admire Dawn Moncrief (and others) for challenging themselves to eat well on a food-stamp budget. In her list, I am concerned about the balance of vegetables and fruits (greens, apples, tomato)compared to plant proteins (beans, peas, peanut butter, tofu) and grains (bread, rice, grits).
I would suggest referencing the Environmental Working Group's "Good Food on a Tight Budget" http://www.ewg.org/goodfood/index.php
and their Meat eater's Guide to Climate Change and Health
http://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/at-a-glance-brochure/
Hi, Susan—thanks so much for pointing out EWG's resources! I checked the "Healthy Budget" recommendations on page 28 of "Good Food on a Tight Budget," and unless I'm mistaken, Dawn's shopping list actually seems to be right in line—is there something I'm missing?
(According to that page, "For every $25 you can spend on food, experts suggest: $6 for vegetables, $5 for fruits, $4 for grains, $4-5 for proteins, $4 for dairy, $1-2 for oils and other foods.")
- Jennifer Greene, DOVE co-author
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