March is National Nutrition Month. The National Nutrition Month (NNM) is a nutrition education campaign sponsored annually by the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and its Foundation.
It's appropriate and fitting that March is National Nutrition Month, since it arrives in between the end of winter and the start of spring. Winter holiday celebrations have passed and left many students and adults with cherished memories and frequently unwanted weight gain!
Healthy eating and routine exercise are necessary to maintain good health all year long. So, National Nutrition Month provides the opportunity of a friendly reminder to get back on track. Healthy eating can be an adventure and include many different combinations of ingredients that are found in recipes from all over the world.
Grades 9-12 Learning Activity
Have students compare foods from different continents. To begin, assign student four countries, each from a different continent, for which there are corresponding interviews in the CultureGrams Interviews feature.
Ask each student to read one interview for each of the four countries. Have them answer the question "What has each interviewee identified as a favorite food or foods?" Then have the students read the Diet section for each of their assigned countries in the CultureGrams World Edition. They may also access the Food section in the reports in the Kids Edition and the recipes in the Recipe Collection to learn more about typical dishes.
Have the students write a one-paragraph response identifying which of the four countries' cuisine seems most appetizing to them. Of all the dishes described—in the World Edition Diet sections, Kids Edition Food sections, Recipes, or Interviews—which would they most like to try?
In a second short response, have the students compare the cuisine from the different continents. How did they differ?
As an extension activity, have the students select a recipe (with readily available ingredients) from the CultureGrams Recipe Collection to make at home and bring to class.
