No two grocery carts are the same! Everyone has different food preferences based on a variety of food influences. You can tell alot about a person’s food habits and
dietary lifestyles based on what you see in their cart. In this What’s in Your Cart? A Receipt Analysis Activity, students infer, analyze, reflect and make connections to MyPlate and create meal plans all from the grocery cart receipts! The beauty of this activity is that you can choose to do only certain parts or you can assign the entirety to students.
Set
- Begin by showing students the slide on the Intro Activity and ask them to tell you about the shopper based on the food cart items only. They may be able to infer dietary lifestyle, habits, brand preferences, processed vs whole foods options which may equate to their time and/or cooking abilities, ethnic food preferences, etc. This activity helps students to glean information about a person based on visual clues only.
- Ask students to share their observations and create a master list if desired.
Materials
- iPad or Laptop
- Projector & Screen
- Highlighters (green, pink, yellow)–affiliate link
Activities
- Note: This assignment can be used as an individual assignment or a small group assignment. It also has layers to it. You can use the analysis portion only or you can add the MyPlate extension activities to it. Because of these options, you will need to decide how you want to use this resource.
- Go over the assignment so students understand what they will be doing.
- First, give students 3 different colors of highlighters and a copy of the grocery cart receipts for Person #1 and Person #2. These can be printed on reverse sides of paper to save trees. Have students annotate the receipts based on the healthfulness of the cart items.
- Once annotated, students will answer questions. These can be collected and graded or they can be shared verbally in a group session.
- If completing the additional MyPlate activities, have students categorize the cart items for both people into MyPlate food groups and then answer reflection prompts that follow. Again, these can be collected for a grade or they can be shared and discussed verbally as a class.
- Finally, students will create a meal plan for each person, using their cart items only, to the best of their abilities and then answer the follow-up prompts. As previously mentioned, these can be collected for a grade or shared verbally as a whole class.
- Whether you use a portion of this or the whole activity, it’s a great way for students to see the potential implications of their food choices. It may also prompt them to think about their own individual and families food choices.
Attachements
- Intro Activity (PDF)
- What’s In Your Cart: Receipt Analysis Only (PDF)
- What’s in Your Cart: MyPlate Options (PDF)
