Cultivating Dreams Workshop Curriculum
Schedule
*Over Winter Break have the women watch “An Inconvenient Truth” and “Super Size Me”
(SARLO has both movies, and if you tell them you are checking them out for CD, they will be
fine with them being gone the whole break). Leave with the supervisor paper and pencils so that
the women can write questions and comments they have on the films. The supervisor should
collect the notes after each screening, so that the papers are not misplaced.1
PART ONE- Nutrition and Health
Week 1: Free Write & “Super Size Me” Discussion
Week 2: Decoding Terms
Week 3: Policy
1
These lesson plans are designed for a 60-75 minute workshop.
LESSONS
PART ONE
I. Free Write and Discussion
Materials:
-Paper
-Pencils (not mechanical)
-Copies of “Super Size Me” fact sheet
Workshop:
-When the women arrive to the classroom pass out the papers which they took notes on over
Winter Break. For the first 5-10 minutes have each woman write down any other
impressions/questions/general topics they wanted to discuss from the movies. (*We will not be
talking about “An Inconvenient Truth” until Week 8, so be sure to inform them of the schedule,
and have those notes slightly more detailed)
-“Super Size Me” discussion
a. Open up the floor for general reactions
Conversation Starters (CS):
-The man took extreme action to prove a point. What do you think of this tactic?
-Hand out a fact sheet to get impressions and be reminded of facts that were
included in the movie
b. Promotion of Fast Food
CS:
-Why is bad food affordable?
-Is it the affordability that attracts people to consume it? Taste? Or both?
-What are the other causes that attract people to fast food? Cultural? Advertising?
-What is your own relationship to fast food?
c. Strategizing Affordable Alternatives
-Affordable and practical ways to eat healthy
*This is a difficult section to introduce to the group, because some may be serving life
sentences. Begin by opening the floor for discussion about what their eating habits were
like when they were children. This will lead into discussing school lunch, and you can
introduce current initiatives being taken by government, and food activists to implement
cafeteria reform.
Resources:
-“Super Size Me” fact sheet
http://www.vivavegie.org/101book/text/nolink/social/supersizeme.htm
-School lunch reform
II. Decoding Terms
Materials:
-Paper
-Handouts (FDA article, TedTalk transcript)
-Pencils
-Copies of article from Jamie Oliver’s TED talk
-Laptop and speakers
-Podcast
Prep:
-Email supervisor to inform them of lesson plan, and that part of the lesson plan requires using a
laptop and speakers to listen to a podcast. Inquire if the projector would be available to set-up
and use so women could watch TED Talk (if not they can read the transcript).
Workshop:
-Open with General Discussion:
-What do you think of when you have heard the terms: healthy, organic, and natural?
-Define the terms (create own definitions), and discuss how they apply in general society,
fast food industry and schools.
-Hand out “Natural and Organic Foods” article by FDA
-Read/Watch Jamie Oliver’s TED Talk on school lunches
-Impressions? (have women take notes, if they wish, and collect at end of workshop
to bring to next workshop as reference)
-Listen to podcast on recent school lunch policy
-Questions to Consider:
-Does our society promote an unhealthy attitude about food?
-Should there be more regulations?
Resources:
-Jamie Oliver TedTalk
http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html (google search Jamie Oliver TedTalk)
-“Natural and Organic Food” FDA article
http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/06p0094/06p-0094-cp00001-05-Tab-04Food-Marketing-Institute-vol1.pdf
III. Policy
Materials:
-Paper
-Pencils
-Envelopes
-List of State Senator addresses
-Copies of form letter
-American Farm Bill (found on Jamie Oliver’s website)
-Laptop and speakers
Prep:
-Research current letter writing campaigns which are pertinent to nutrition and health policy and
print out copies of form letter for the women to copy and address to their senator.
-Audio check with supervisor, email a week in advance.
Workshop:
-Ways women can have a voice in making policy
-NPR piece on women and farming
-Current news, campaigns (will need to research at beginning of semester)
-Where is our country at with reform initiatives
-Reflect back to Jamie Oliver’s TED Talk (if women took notes, which you should have
collected and held on to bring to this discussion)
-School lunch policy
-Listen to NPR piece (or read transcript) “History of the Farm Bill”
-American Farm Bill (current) have the women write letters to and then collect and mail back on
campus (Jamie Oliver website has good resources for individual involvement)
Resources:
-NPR “History of the Farm Bill”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/09/26/140802243/the-farm-bill-from-charitablestart-to-prime-budget-target
http://harvestpublicmedia.org/article/773/round-and-round-we-go/5
-NPR “Women and Farming”
http://www.npr.org/2012/04/22/151166771/women-take-over-the-farm?ft=1&f=