“Eating Green” Challenge
Adopted from: Wendy Rago, PPCHS
As to fully understand and appreciate the topics in Chapter 12, regarding food and soil resources, we are
beginning a one week “Eating Green” Challenge. The purpose of this challenge to engage you in an
educational experience, which will bring awareness to the environmental issues that arise from the foods
you consume. Some parts of the challenge will be graded and some parts will be based solely on your
participation.
Grading: (35
points total: Labwork/Projects)
1. Maintain a food journal of ALL the food’s you eat for one week. This journal/diary will be
collected and reviewed on the due date of the assignment (15 points)
-We are encouraging you to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet. A vegetarian will eat
vegetables, fruits, grains, and nuts—with or without the addition of milk products and eggs.
All forms of flesh (meat, fowl, and seafood) are excluded from all vegetarian diets, but many
vegetarians use milk and milk products. Vegans will exclude all animal related products from
their lifestyle including butter, dairy, eggs and the use of leather. The minimum requirement
would be to eat 3 days of meat less meals within the week.
2. Reflection essay – At the end of the challenge, you will write an essay reflecting on your
experience and address specific questions provided to you. All essays will be due by
_________________ via schoolloop. All essays must be submitted no later than 8:10am. (20
points)
This is meant to be a challenge. I understand that there may be times when “Eating Green” is difficult,
but remember we are only asking you for one week. You can do anything for one week!
Lastly, some other issues arise when following a vegetarian and vegan diet. Some of these issues include
political and social viewpoints, such as animal cruelty and health benefits, involved with not eating meat
products. Our focus for this class is on the environmental impacts of animal production, not animal
cruelty or health concerns. Those issues will come up in our discussion, however, they are NOT the goal
of this “Eating Green” challenge. This challenge is purely a fun, educational opportunity to raise
awareness about how what we eat impacts the environment around us.
“Eating Green” Challenge Follow Up Essay:
Directions: Answer the following questions, in essay format, and be sure to use example.
1) After documenting a week of eating in your food diary, what trends do you see in the foods you
consumed? Which types of foods did you consume the most? The least?
2) If you look at the government guide of the food pyramid (www.mypyramid.gov), are you getting
all of your recommended servings of the 6 major food groups? For our purposes, we didn’t
measure serving sizes. If we did, how do you think that would have affected your data?
3) What was the most difficult part of the “Eating Green” Challenge?? What did you learn from this
experience? Now, after recording your data in a food log, are there any changes you would make
to your eating habits? If not, is your current consumption ideal and sustainable for others to
follow? Explain.
“Eating Green”
Challenge Contract
I, ____________________ (print name), hereby commit to one week of “Eating Green” within the dates
of ____________________. I understand that this involves eating a completely vegetarian or vegan diet
for one week. I will focus on challenging my abilities, in the pursuit of elevating my awareness and
knowledge about the environmental impact of livestock and fish consumption on our environment.
I will be conscious of what I eat for one week, by maintaining a food journal and recording all of the
foods I consume. I will also reflect on the environmental stresses I have caused or eliminated, based on
my food choices. I will do my best to make food choices that have the least impact on the environment.
My minimum commitment will be to at least eat 3 days of meat less meals.
I realize that this contract is solely with myself and it carries no rewards, penalties, or punishments, other
than those associated with the reflection of the strength of my character.
Signature: _______________________________________ Date: _____________________________