1. Open the Excel Diets Data Sheet file in this week’s folder/module. Complete the data sheets for each diet and save the file. Submit completed excel file to the Consumer Issues Dropbox in eLearning/D2L. You will need Excel to complete this part of the assignment. Move the mouse over the cells with red arrows in the upper corner to find instructions for completing each column. To go from diet to diet, click on the tabs at the bottom of the page. As you complete each diet, the summary page will automatically be filled in. (10 pts)
2. Answer the following questions and submit the answers to the Consumer Issues Dropbox in eLearning/D2L. Answers can be written in the Excel Diets Data Sheet file or students can create a Word or pdf file to answer the questions. (10 pts)
a. Compare each of the four diets (typical diet, low cost diet, convenience diet, & low environmental impact diet), in what you would consume, cost of diets, environmental impact of diets, convenience, and nutritional content. Did all of the diets meet the US RDA?
b. Place your patterns of food consumption in a global context. How would a low cost diet differ in a less developed country? How much of your normally consumed food comes from high on the food chain? What impact might this have on the food availability for a growing population?
3. Complete Consumer Issues Discussion. (10 pts)
Ecological Issues for Consumers – Shopping Environmentally Hidden Impacts of Marketing and Production of Food Introduction Ecologists who have studied food webs have measured the flow of energy (in the form of light energy from the sun and then in the form of carbohydrate, protein, and fat calories in plants and animals) through food chains and food webs. It has been found that, on average, approximately only 10% of the energy flows from one level to the next level in a food chain. That means 90% of the energy is lost from the food web at each level. This is because some energy is lost as heat when it is transferred from one type of energy to another and also because plants and animals have to spend a lot of energy on maintenance of tissues, looking for food, reproducing, and normal “basal” or “resting” metabolism. For example, say that the sun sends 100,000 units of energy that hit the leaf surface area of one plant. The plant is not completely efficient so it will only absorb about 10% of that sun energy, so 10,000 units move up the food chain during photosynthesis. The plant uses up a lot of energy for maintaining itself and for metabolism (plants actually burn calories too). Then an herbivore comes along and eats the plant. Since the plant “spent” a lot of energy it got from the sun for its own growth and reproduction, and only a fraction was actually incorporated into plant tissue that can be eaten, the herbivore runs around doing its thing and its metabolism will burn up some of the sun’s energy it got from the plant, so only 10%, or 100 units of energy, will end up being incorporated into its tissue (meat). Then, when a carnivore comes along and eats the herbivore, it only gets 100 of the 100,000 units of the sun’s energy that initially entered the food chain. What does this mean for humans? Basically, it is much more efficient to eat “lower on the food chain”. It takes a lot more energy, water, and money to produce meat than it does to produce grain. For instance, it takes 25 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of grain, but it takes 1,500 gallons to produce 1 pound of beef. So, the environment of our planet can support a lot more vegetarians than meat eaters, which is important to consider in the face of growing populations. In fact, by necessity, most of the world’s populations are primarily vegetarian. Other food choices we make also have an environmental impact. Choosing to eat food produced locally reduces the transportation cost and fossil fuels burned. Agriculture is a major part of Georgia’s economy and many Georgia grown foods can be purchased here. For instance Georgia is one of the US’s largest producer of blueberries. Packaging also has an environmental impact. Increased levels of packaging require more energy and material to produce and take up space in landfills once the food is eaten. Single serving foods often have more packaging than bulk foods. Everyone must eat to meet his or her daily nutritional requirements, but people also derive pleasure from eating – just ask the producers of fine quality chocolates or premium ice creams. When you shop at the grocery store or make choices at a restaurant, you not only serve your own needs and desires but also make an environmental impact. During this exercise, you will begin assessing some of the environmental impacts of your dietary choices. By tabulating prices and information from nutrition labels, you can make a reasonable estimate of the ecological consequences of the dietary choices you make. Methods: Go to a grocery store and collect data on the food that you would normally consume. Compare these data to data for three hypothetical diets: a low cost diet, a convenience diet, and a low environmental impact diet. You will create a total of 4 diets. Your analysis will concentrate on three areas: the nutritional content of each type of diet, the cost of each diet, and the environmental impact of each diet. • For the low cost diet, you are to determine how best to meet the USRDA nutritional recommendations for three meals, while spending no more than $3.00 a day. • For the convenience diet, you are to determine how to best meet the USRDA nutritional recommendations and at the same time reduce the amount of time you spend cooking and cleaning. • For the low environmental impact diet, you are to determine how to best meet the USRDA nutritional recommendations and at the same time reducing your environmental impact index (see next page). When collecting your data, you should pay attention to the following guidelines: 1. Be realistic. You will need to estimate the serving size that you consume in order to calculate the nutritional information. For example, if you drink a large glass of orange juice for breakfast, this is probably twice the size of the serving size listed on the package. 2. Do not forget to include condiments (mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup), soft drinks, or between-meal snacks. 3. For the low cost diet, remember that you are trying to maximize the amount of total nutrition, not just the calories or vitamins and minerals. For example, you would not want to just eat Total cereal. Although it supposedly meats all your vitamin and mineral requirements, it has very few calories. If you were to live off of this cereal for several weeks, you might become ill. US RDA nutritional recommendations These are the recommended daily allowances (RDA) that the Food a Drug Administration has suggested for adults: Females Males Calories 2000-2200 cal./day 2600-2800 cal./day Fat less than 65 grams less than 80 grams Protein 46 grams 56 grams Carbohydrates 130 g 135 g Dietary Fiber 25 grams 30 grams Cholesterol less than 300 milligrams less than 300 milligrams Sodium less than 2400 milligrams less than 2400 milligrams Recommendations are for individuals 19-30 years old who are moderately active. Remember that individual needs may be higher or lower depending on age, level of physical activity, and other factors. For this exercise, it might be easiest to collect data on the assumption that your dietary need match this hypothetical average person. If you have reasons for believing that your dietary needs are higher or lower than average, explain in your write-up. Environmental Impact Index – the lower the score, the better!! Packaging Points: +0 = no packaging (loose fruits / vegetables, bulk foods transported in your own reusable container) +1 = 1 layer of recyclable packaging +2 = 1 layer of packaging, non-recyclable +3 = 2 layers of packaging, at least one recyclable +4 = 2 layers of packaging, non-recyclable +5 = 3 or more layers of packaging -1 = Subtract 1 point if you would actually recycle the recyclable packaging -1 = Subtract 1 point if the packaging is made from recycled materials +1 = Add 1 point if the product contains fewer than 4 servings Shipping points: +0 = Product was shipped from somewhere in Georgia +1 = Product was shipped from out of state + 2 = Product was shipped from outside the United States Food Chain Efficiency Points: +0 = Product contains no dairy, eggs, or meat +1 = Product contains dairy products +2 = Product contains meat or eggs Agricultural Practices Points: -1 = Product was grown organically -1 = You or a family member grew the product To Turn In: All parts of this assignment are due Sunday at 11:59 pm Each student should turn in his or her own independent work. 1. Open the Excel Diets Data Sheet file in this week’s folder/module. Complete the data sheets for each diet and save the file. Submit completed excel file to the Consumer Issues Dropbox in eLearning/D2L. You will need Excel to complete this part of the assignment. Move the mouse over the cells with red arrows in the upper corner to find instructions for completing each column. To go from diet to diet, click on the tabs at the bottom of the page. As you complete each diet, the summary page will automatically be filled in. (10 pts) 2. Answer the following questions and submit the answers to the Consumer Issues Dropbox in eLearning/D2L. Answers can be written in the Excel Diets Data Sheet file or students can create a Word or pdf file to answer the questions. (10 pts) a. Compare each of the four diets (typical diet, low cost diet, convenience diet, & low environmental impact diet), in what you would consume, cost of diets, environmental impact of diets, convenience, and nutritional content. Did all of the diets meet the US RDA? b. Place your patterns of food consumption in a global context. How would a low cost diet differ in a less developed country? How much of your normally consumed food comes from high on the food chain? What impact might this have on the food availability for a growing population? 3. Complete Consumer Issues Discussion. (10 pts) For more information about healthy diets see: http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/DietaryGuidelines2010.pdf (U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. 7th Edition, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, December 2010.) http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/DietaryGuidelines2010.pdf