FOOD

50-60 minutes class.

BRAINSTORMING

You know the drill, let’s start class with a brainstorming about FOOD, so that your students can start focusing about today’s topic and feel good about themselves for speaking a few words. Guess what, brainstorming is all about ideas, there is no right or wrong answer. Get them exited for class and keep their phrases or words on the side to then check later on how many we can actually match with the class.

VOCABULARY

For this class I will give you some vocabulary. You can mix it up and add some of your own of course. At the end you are the master of your class 😉 Make sure your student understand the vocabulary, and encourage them to include this vocabulary in today’s conversation.

Diet (to go on a diet): your eating habits.
Nutrition (person = nutritionist): how you fuel your body. Everything that you put into your body as food.
Healthy food <> Junk food
Good / healthy eating habits <> bad / unhealthy eating habits
Eating disorder (example: obesity <> anorexia). Binge eating = eating without control.

WARM UP

• Have you ever gone on a diet?
• What diets do you know? Do you know keto? Fasting?
• What do you consider to be healthy food?
• How many servings of fruits and vegetables do you have per day?

CONVERSATION / READING

Let your student read the following:

“ It’s widely known that nutrition plays a key role in your physical health. But studies also show that nutrition directly affects our mental and emotional well-being, too.“It makes sense that what we put in our body would also impact our mental health,” says Dr. Deborah Fernandez-Turner, Deputy Chief Psychiatric Officer at Aetna. “Good health describes a condition of optimal well-being. That means the body and the mind, operating in harmony. Both are equally important when defining your health journey.” from Food for your mood: How what you eat affects your mental health – Aetna

• What are good examples of junk food?
• These days people are more open to speak up about their eating disorder. I myself have gone through some. What about you? Have you ever experienced any eating disorders?
• Have you ever heard of binge eating? Apparently a lot of people are experiencing this disorder.
• Do you think women and men have the same approach to food?
• Do you think that good breathing, sun intake, and social activities are also part of the diet?
• Does our diet have a direct impact on our mood?

“ Large population studies, too, have found that people who eat a lot of nutrient-dense foods report less depression and greater levels of happiness and mental well-being. One such study, from 2016, that followed 12,400 people for about seven years found that those who increased their consumption of fruits and vegetables during the study period rated themselves substantially higher on questionnaires about their general levels of happiness and life satisfaction.” How Food May Improve Your Mood The New York Times, by Anahad O’Connor

• Nowadays people cook less and less at home, and tend to order food online. How do you think our diets will change in the future?

HOMEWORK and/or FINAL EXERCISE

I know, nobody likes homework, however a good exercise would be choosing one of the questions and writing it down. Why? Because by writing down we can see and fix those errors that might seem superficial in the conversation.

And you teacher? Have you ever talked about this topic before? Would you say it’s a sensitive topic to share with your students?