TEST YOUR FOOD IQ
1) What percent of U.S. farmworkers are undocumented? Circle your answer.
25%
34%
53%
72%
2) What does GMO stand for? __________________________________________________
3) Which of these vegetables is one of the “Dirty Dozen” with highest pesticide loads (when not
grown organically)? Which is one of the “Clean Fifteen” (with lowest traces of pesticides)?
Mark DD for Dirty Dozen and CF for Clean Fifteen.
____ strawberries _____ asparagus
_____ cabbage
____ apples
_____ spinach
_____ cherry tomatoes
____ potatoes
_____ sweet potatoes _____ eggplants
4) Nationally, what percent of African Americans live in a census tract with a supermarket?
8%
15%
22%
37%
5) A food desert is defined as a low income census tract where a substantial number or share of
residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store. What percentage of
Minneapolis is classified as a food desert?
10%
25%
40%
50%
6) How much of the energy required to grow and put food on your table is used on
transportation?
11%
18%
27%
32%
7) Which farming system has more nutrient losses through nitrate leaching, nitrous oxide
emissions, and ammonia emissions?
Organic
Conventional
8) What percent of US families report that they are choosing at least some organic foods?
15%
36%
57%
78%
9) Nationally, what percentage of our fruit, nut and vegetable crops have to be harvested by
hand?
15%
30%
55%
70%
What's Good Food?
an interfaith conversation about values, justice and sustainability
Sunday, November 10
1:00 – 3:00 PM
 Do you consider what you are eating and whether its origins are compatible with
your values?
 Do you realize that in our community both obesity and scarcity are problems?
 Do you long for guidance and community in making these difficult choices?
In collaboration with neighboring congregations, First Universalist hosts a conversation to
explore our food from a variety of perspectives. Featured guests from small and family farms,
workers’ rights organizations, sustainable agriculture, and local food justice efforts will join us.
A light lunch will be served. RSVP's required by contacting Judy at jab679@gmail.com
Quiz answers:
1) The US Department of Labor reports that 53% of farmworkers nationally are undocumented (working without legal
authorization), 25% are US citizens, and 21% are legal permanent residents. http://www.ncfan.org/overview/
2) A genetically modified organism is one whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.
3) Apples, strawberries, spinach, cherry tomatoes, and potatoes are among the Dirty Dozen. The rest are in the Clean Fifteen.
See http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php
4) Only 8% percent of African Americans live in a census tract with a supermarket, compared to 31 percent of whites
http://www.policylink.org/site/c.lkIXLbMNJrE/b.5860321/k.A5BD/The_Grocery_Gap.htm
5) Minneapolis and St. Paul are the twin cities of food deserts. In 2006, Minneapolis was almost 50 percent food desert, as was
a third of St. Paul. Making matters worse is the fact that one of five Twin City residents don't have cars, making it difficult to get
to the areas that do have supermarket and food stores. http://www.businessinsider.com/food-deserts-urban-2011-10?op=1
6) Transportation represents only 11% of the energy required to put food on your table, and delivery from producer to retailer
represents only 4%. There are still many reasons to favor local food, including supporting local economies and building local
food security, but food miles is not one of them. Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews. 2008. Food Miles and the Relative
Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the United States Environmental Science and Technology 42: 3508-3513, cited in
http://www.postcarbon.org/article/273686-beyond-food-miles
7) On a per unit land area basis, conventional is more; on a unit food basis, organic has more, because yields are lower in
organic ag (based on meta analysis of 71 European studies). Tuomisto et al., 2012. Does organic farming reduce environmental
impacts? A meta-analysis of European research. Journal of Environmental Management 112:309-320.
8) 78% choose at least some organic food as reported in a survey by the Organic Trade Association
(http://www.organicnewsroom.com/2011/11/ seventyeight percent of us fam.html) although only 26 percent of Americans
regularly buy organic food, (http:www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/us/would-be-healthy-eaters-face-confusion-ofchoices.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)
9) At least 20-25 percent of the U.S. vegetable acreage and 40-45 percent of the U.S. fruit acreage is totally dependent on hand
harvesting. The crops represent about 30 percent of the U.S. fruit, nut, and vegetable acreage
http://www.cis.org/FarmMechanization-ImmigrationAlternative