Welcome to Navigate Powered by NIDES Food Studies 11!

Welcome to Navigate Powered by NIDES Food Studies 11!

Please note that the First Assignment is a requirement to be registered in the course.

Instructions: This assignment is intended to take approximately 5 - 10 hours to complete. It is worth 10% of your final grade for the course, so complete it carefully:
Read each question carefully before answering

1. Answer all questions to the best of your ability, and in your own words. Plagiarized assignments will not be accepted, and you will not be registered in the course.
2. Take your time and explore all of the resources. You will receive a higher mark on your First Assignment if you include your learning from the readings and resources provided.
3. Contact the International Languages teacher for help if you need it. Teacher contact information is available on the Navigate website.
4. When you have completed this assignment, return it as an attachment to an email to: attach it to your registration form

Module 1 – Research and Reflections

In this Research and Reflection document, you will:

• performa nutritional analysis
• assess new technologies for food preparation
• explore foods from other cultures
• complete a self-evaluation of your work

You can access many videos and websites on food preparation, meal planning, nutrition, etc. on the Internet. In order to complete your coursework, you will need to be resourceful in finding the information that you need.

Important: Completion of the chart below is part of how you will be evaluated for this assignment. Read carefully before you begin. This assignment will not be marked unless you self-evaluate here after you are done.

1. Using an online nutritional analysis program, such as the Canada Food Guide or a site such as , determine the nutritional content of a meal you had recently. List all items that you ingested at the meal under the red arrow below (your text will be green). After you have reviewed the meal’s nutritional content, please also record the results of your nutritional analysis below. You may use the same format as a standard nutrition facts label found on any food product.

1. In regards to Food Preparation Principles, answer the questions below.

Click here or copy and paste this address access some useful information on this topic

(you may want to consult other resources as well).

1. What is a “standard”? What are product standards? Why do we need them?

1. Who sets those standards?

1. How might these rules apply in different kinds of situations?

1. Take a look inside your refrigerator. What do you see in there? On a scale of one to ten, with a TEN indicating a very high standard of cleanliness, food safety and appropriate storage procedures (with FIVE meaning something like, “Not so much…” and ONE suggesting downright scary), rate your refrigerator. Explain the reason for your rating.

1. Under the red arrow below, describe a time when you enjoyed an “ethnic” meal from a culture other than your own. What do you remember about your initial impressions of the food (smell, texture, taste, etc.) and of the venue at which you ate (music, entertainment, surroundings)? Apart from the food itself, what aesthetic and social aspects of the eating experience did you appreciate and why?

1. If you were to prepare a meal from a culture other than that of your culture of origin, which country’s food would you choose? List a minimum of five dishes, including an appetizer and dessert, which you would include in this meal. Information sources might include the library, the Internet, recipe cards from a grocery store or even a menu shared with you by a restaurant.

1. Imagine that you are a food evaluator…and you have been called to your own home. Examine the food in your cupboards, refrigerator, etc. in order to evaluate the food that you eat. What criteria would you use to establish a rating system (e.g. nutritional value, amount of fresh as opposed to preserved food, etc.)? After you have established your criteria, record your findings from the observations of your own kitchen.

1. Write about one of the following food preparation techniques, suitable for purposes such as backpacking or preparing for a natural disaster such as an earthquake, which you have used before or would like to try. Discuss the pros and cons of that method of food preparation.

• Drying
• Canning
• Pickling
• Freezing
• Smoking

1. Describe an experience that you have had using one of the following items of specialized food preparation equipment. If you have never used any of these items, research one of them that you would like to try and write about what you learned.

• Ice-cream maker
• Yogurt maker
• Pasta maker
• Food Processor
• Deep fat fryer
• Bread machine

1. Research the commercial preparation of a specialty food product (e.g. chocolates, bagels, pickles). Describe the process that is used. What did you learn that you didn’t know before?

When you have completed this assignment, return it as an attachment to an email to: or attach it to your registration form