Make a Meal

March is National Nutrition Month. But food is more than just a way to satisfy our nutritional needs.

The food we eat can say a lot about our culture—it can tell us what foods are available, what we prefer to eat, and what types of food we can afford.

Start by having all the students read the Diet section of the Venezuela CultureGrams report, and discuss the different meals Venezuelans eat.

Show the class the two presentations from CultureGrams Slideshows under Venezuela that show how to make meals: "Making Arepas" and "Making Empanadas."

Divide the class into six groups, one for each CultureGrams region grouping: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

Assign the students one country to research from their region grouping. Assign the students to read through the Eating and Diet sections of their country's report and discuss within their groups the food available in that country.

Assign the students one of the CultureGrams Recipes from their country. Have students meet outside of class to make the recipe. Instruct students to take pictures (with a digital camera) of the progress of the recipe in steps, similar to those in the Venezuelan slideshows. Then have students compile their pictures and create a slideshow in Microsoft PowerPoint to show to the class.

As part of the presentation, have students explain what the difficult parts of making their recipe were. Was it hard to work with unfamiliar ingredients? Did the meal taste good? Why or why not?

In conclusion, discuss the findings with students. How is food an important part of culture? Does the region people live in influence what they will eat? What makes something tasty to one group of people and not to another?