Essential Questions
for Food, Culture & History

1. What are the main social, economic, political, and technological forces that determined food consumption in historical societies and the 21st century?

2. How does socioeconomic class determine food choices in historical societies and the 21st century?

3. How is the diet of modern and historical people determined by the interaction between social, economic, political, and technological forces?

4. How does your diet reflect the interplay of social, economic, political, geographical, and technological forces in modern America?

5. How does your diet influence your personal health and lifestyle as well as the wider society
(economy, technological changes, political action, and public health)?

6. What can we learn from primary sources and how can primary sources support our writing?

7. What are effective interdisciplinary themes to tie history to the present in your classroom instruction?

8. What are the risks of an unhealthy diet? What is the role of the government in educating its citizens about
an unhealthy diet or creating legislation to regulate diet?

9. Is the socioeconomic achievement gap in schools related to the diet of America's poor?
What can be done to prevent these gaps?