Assignment: Deconstructive analysis of your breakfast

What did you eat for breakfast? Where on earth does your food come from?!

For this assignment, you are asked to i) document what you ate and drank for breakfast, and then 2) trace where and how your food was processed. You must consider the ecological impact of how your food arrives at your kitchen table and the physiological impact of the ingredients on your health.

For instance, if you have a coffee (with milk and sugar) and a bagel with peanut butter for breakfast, you should consider the following questions. These are suggestions - but additional questions may arise.

• Where was the coffee grown? By whom? What sort of farm is it (transnational corporation, or small cooperative)? Was it processed in the country of origin or somewhere else? (For instance, grown in Ethiopia but shipped to NYC for roasting and processing?) How was it shipped from the country of origin to processing to your kitchen table? (Did you take the TTC or a bicycle to pick it up at the store? Or did you drive?)

• Where did the milk come from? Is it a local dairy? Is it soy, dairy, almond, or goat milk? If it's soymilk, where was it grown? By whom? See questions above. Is it organic? If not, what sorts of chemicals and medicines were used in its production? Where did you buy it?

• Where did the sugar come from? What kind of sugar is it? See questions above on where and by whom was it grown.

• What ingredients are in your bagel? Where do the ingredients come from? Where is the bagel made?

• Where is your peanut butter made? Where were the peanuts grown? By whom? Are there additives?

• Where do those come from?