Project Food Choice Questions

[fsjws4]

My team did some brainstorming on a food for their project, but I'm not sure how specific they're supposed to be.

Which of these would be most appropriate?

- A McDonald's Cheeseburger
- Cheeseburgers in general
- Hamburger meat

And as for "7 ingredients or less", does that include sub-ingredients? Using the cheeseburger example, you could say that a cheeseburger has three basic ingredients -- meat, cheese, and bread. But the bread might have dozens of ingredients if you go to the next step.

And if they choose a food that doesn't spring fully-made from the earth, such as cheese, where do they start looking for contamination possibilities?

- Once the cheese has been made
- Once the cheese ingredients (such as milk) have been delivered to the cheese factory
- Once the cow that will give the milk has been born
- Once the grain that will feed the cow that will give the milk has been grown
- The cow's mom?

We could chase this backwards forever.

I like that they have more specific guidance for the project than in previous years, but I think it's actually left us more confused than before.

[Robomom]

I view ingredient as the individual components you'd need to make it from scratch. So "bun" is a food item, but it's made up of more than 7 ingredients. You can google and see the ingredients in a McDonalds bun. Way more than 7!

I also speculate that cheese McDonald's uses has more than 7 ingredients, especially if you count all of the preservatives and artificial colors. If your team wanted to research cheese, I'd look for a brand of cheese that is more natural. Edited to add: some organic cheese in my fridge only has 3 ingredients listed (milk, salt and enzymes), so cheese is a possibility if you pick a brand with 7 or less ingredients.

But you could research just the meat patty. It is supposedly just beef with no added fillers (double check that!).

You can look for a problem anywhere along the cycle of the food...from farm to table. See the list of suggestions on the "Your Team's Food Journey" in the project description for ideas of places problems could occur.

[BlueCheesyFlamingos]

Originally Posted by Robomom

But you could research just the meat patty. It is supposedly just beef with no added fillers (double check that!).

I like both the cheese and meat ideas. Cheese might be an even better one because you might find multiple sources of contamination.

The best way to start is for the kids to research how cheese is made. That will probably answer a lot of the farm to table questions from the research outline. Then a couple additional google search will fill in any other things like preparation.

[BlueCheesyFlamingos]

Originally Posted by fsjws4

And if they choose a food that doesn't spring fully-made from the earth, such as cheese, where do they start looking for contamination possibilities?

- Once the cheese has been made
- Once the cheese ingredients (such as milk) have been delivered to the cheese factory
- Once the cow that will give the milk has been born
- Once the grain that will feed the cow that will give the milk has been grown
- The cow's mom?

Good point, I would say start with the milk. If you do happen to find contamination that comes from the cow the milk came from you could mention it but I don't think you would be required to go any further because the ingredient is the milk, not the cow.

[Life is Good]

My team is a bit confused--if they want to have their food French Fries--could the contamination come from the oil it is fried in? And if so, do they do the research from the potato being planted in the ground to it ending up on their table AND/OR do they have to also research the vegetable oil and how it comes from plants? This is a very young team--not sure they fully understand the project but we're trying!

[Robomom]

Originally Posted by Life is Good

My team is a bit confused--if they want to have their food French Fries--could the contamination come from the oil it is fried in? And if so, do they do the research from the potato being planted in the ground to it ending up on their table AND/OR do they have to also research the vegetable oil and how it comes from plants? This is a very young team--not sure they fully understand the project but we're trying!

How about doing baked french fries? Yes, I know you usually use a bit of oil for these, but you could make them without oil in a pinch.

If you do traditional french fries, cooked in oil, I'd say you need to research the ingredients in the oil too.

If they do McDonald's french fries they need to research all of these ingredients
French Fries: Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives]*, citric acid [preservative]), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color), salt. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.

[TimTedrow]

Originally Posted by Life is Good

My team is a bit confused--if they want to have their food French Fries--could the contamination come from the oil it is fried in? And if so, do they do the research from the potato being planted in the ground to it ending up on their table AND/OR do they have to also research the vegetable oil and how it comes from plants? This is a very young team--not sure they fully understand the project but we're trying!

Your team's research should find a real food contamination anywhere in the chain from the ground to consumption. If the oil is the source of contamination, then they may need to follow that chain too because the end goal is for them to find an innovative solution to the contamination problem.